Mohamed Harkat, seen here in a 2007 file photo, claimed refugee status in Canada in 1995 and denies any link to terrorism

By Andrew Duffy

OTTAWA — A U.S. historian who specializes in the war on terror has urged the judge in the Mohamed Harkat case to carefully distinguish between jihadists and terrorists.

Professor Brian Williams, associate Professor of Islamic History at the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth, told Federal Court that there’s an unfortunate tendency to link all Muslim fighters to al-Qaida.

“Since 9/11, al-Qaida has lost its meaning,” he testified Monday, noting that jihad existed long before Osama bin Laden rose to fame.

Williams was called by Harkat’s defence team to offer expert opinion about Saudi-born jihadist, Ibn Khattab, whom the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) has labelled a terrorist.

Harkat, who claimed refugee status in Canada in 1995, denies any link to terrorism.

CSIS has linked Harkat to what it describes as the Khattab terrorist organization, which it says, has ties to al-Qaida.

Based on CSIS evidence, the federal government is trying to deport Harkat to his native Algeria.

But Williams told court Monday that Khattab was a committed jihadist, not an al-Qaida terrorist. Khattab, he said, did not embrace bin Laden’s jihad against the West and did not launch attacks that targeted civilians.

His entire career as a jihadist was spent fighting the Russians, first in Afghanistan, then in Tajikistan, and finally in Chechnya, Williams said.

Court heard that Khattab was born in Saudi Arabia to a wealthy family, but embraced jihad as a young man. He would have met bin Laden in Afghanistan during the 1980s, but never swore allegiance to the al-Qaida leader, Williams said.

After Russian forces left Afghanistan, Khattab went in search of another jihad to fight in defence of oppressed Muslims.

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Tags: Afghanistan, Brian Williams, CSIS, Federal Court, Mohamed Harkat, Russia

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