Sohail Qureshi

Sohail Qureshi is a Canadian citizen arrested in May 2007 in Kabul, Afghanistan on charges of involvement with a larger Canadian group supporting the insurgency against the Invasion of Afghanistan.

Early life

Qureshi grew up in Manchester, England, and immigrated to Canada as a youth with his parents and sister. The family of Pakistani origin lived in a number of cities, including Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, before settling down in Calgary, Alberta where his father opened a medical clinic and his mother worked as the receptionist.

He graduated with a degree in computer science from the University of Calgary in June 2006l, but wasn't able to find a job in his field upon completing school and took a packing job with a local courier company . In February 2007, he took a trip to Pakistan promising to return in April. During that time he crossed into Afghanistan several times, traveling around the country.

Arrest

Although initial reports suggested that the 24-year old had been stepping off a bus when Afghan police apprehended him, Kabul's 9th Police District headquarters have since stated that he was arrested sitting in a taxi on Bagram Road, on the outskirt's of the city between 9-10pm. He was alleged to be carrying a notebook that contained notes AbOUT the German military base in Mazar-e-Sharif and contact information for Pakistani militants. He was also accused of transporting money to Hezb-e-Islami Gulbuddin.

Afghan Ministry of the Interior spokesman General Manan Faraie said that Qureshi was suspected of being "somehow connected to al-Qaeda or the Taliban", and others reported that he had been planning a [...] bombing to avenge a brother. He was held in Policharki prison. Canadian media outlets suggested that he had attended an Afghan training camp.

Release

Two weeks after Qureshi was arrested, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper had a scheduled meeting with Afghan president Hamid Karzai, but chose not to bring up the subject of the imprisonment.

He was cleared of all wrong-doing, and was deported to Canada on October 9, 2007 since he had overstayed his alloted travel time in May.