| "He was a quiet kind of guy, kept to himself..." |
Russian military officials said they had found a Canadian passport and B.C. driver's licence on a man killed in a shootout with Russian special forces. Those documents belonged to 26-year-old Rudwan Khalil of Vancouver. Now a teacher from a prayer centre in East Vancouver that Khalil attended is speaking out about the man he knew. Younus Kathrada, a teacher at Dar Al-Madinah — a Muslim prayer and information centre — says he often spoke with Khalil.
| And pray tell, what did he teach Khalil? |
Kathrada says he and others who had seen the Vancouver man come into the centre for the last two years couldn't believe the news out of Chechnya. "We were in a state of shock, and we remain in a state of shock because we really don't know what has transpired, and just like everyone else we would like to know," he says. Russian authorities described Khalil as an explosives expert, fighting alongside Chechen insurgents. But Kathrada saw a different kind of man at the Vancouver prayer centre. "Actually a very gentle, and a very, very nice person."
| "Actually very gentle, for an explosives expert, and just one hell of a guy. Had a great, booming laugh, you know?" |
Kathrada says the war in Chechnya was discussed at the centre, as was the plight of other Muslims around the world. But he says no one, including Khalil, ever talked about going to fight there.
"Hell, no! I'm gonna go boom Yellowknife!"
"Saskatoon for me!" |
And Kathrada is urging people not to judge the Vancouver man until more details come out of Russia. Canada's Department of Foreign Affairs is still waiting for Russia to turn over the man's body for positive identification.
| "[Sniff!] Yes! That's my son's lip!" |
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