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| Great White North |
| Imam's work 'in vain' |
| 2007-05-13 |
| Efforts to counsel a Calgary man against allegedly joining terrorist forces in Afghanistan seem to have failed, said a local cleric. Sohail Qureshi, a 24-year-old graduate of the University of Calgary, was reportedly taken into custody earlier this week and detained in Afghanistan on suspicion of attending a militant training camp in Pakistan. According to media reports, Afghan officials allege Qureshi wanted to emulate the actions of his brother, who is suspected of carrying out a suicide bombing in Kabul on Sept. 30. Although he would not confirm the identity of Qureshi out of respect for the family, Calgary imam Sheikh Alaa Elsayed says he met with a University of Calgary computer sciences grad in November to try and talk him out of joining the fight with insurgents in Afghanistan. "I was deeply concerned because the train of thought and the determination on his face was very evident that he was going to go through with it," Elsayed said. "Unfortunately ..." The imam said he was contacted by the Calgarian's father, who was frantic at his son's behaviour and wanted an intervention to help him. "We talked for two hours trying to convince his son the ideology he has may not be the proper one, but apparently it was in vain," Elsayed said. "I will not doubt one single second his intention was pure and sincere because according to him, it was the right thing to do to go and defend his brothers -- basically going to stand shoulder to shoulder and fight defending them." Elsayed added he tried to work with the young man to get him working or teaching in his field of computer science. "We said, 'Yes, I understand you may want to get martyrdom status ... but you can do more good if you live for the sake of Allah or the God almighty.' " The imam believes the Calgarian, who he said grew up a quiet, polite well-mannered boy, was "brainwashed" or "manipulated by emotion" by ideas he found on the Internet. Sources say Qureshi came to Canada in the 1990s with his family, became a Canadian citizen and then was reported missing by loved ones earlier this year. The federal government has since been checking into his activities by contacting family and friends, said a source. A U of C student, who is a fellow Muslim, said Qureshi was a typical student who liked to go to clubs and drink but then suddenly became deeply committed to his religion and become an introvert. "It was a total 180-degree flip," said the student. "The reports I was getting was that everybody tried to talk him out of it and tell him this was not what the religion is. It's unfortunate because it's going to bring disgrace to the community here." Another university student, who knows Qureshi from prayer groups, said the Calgarian took his religion seriously but didn't peg the computer sciences grad as an extremist. "He used to talk to imams about defending his brothers and sisters, and he kept talking about it and talking about it," said the student. "But none of the people around him seemed to agree with his views." The university had no comment on the arrest, said U of C spokesman Colleen Turner. |
| Posted by:ryuge |