In the May edition of the Canadian Immigration Newsletter, Attorney David Cohen wrote a blog about a Canadian citizen who had been stranded in Sudan for six years as an al-Qaeda suspect.

This weekend, Abousfian Abdelrazik has returned to Canada and has reunited with his family in Montreal.

"I am very happy to see my family (and) to be in my city, with my people. I am very happy," Abdelrazik said upon his return on Saturday night.

Sudanese authorities had arrested Abdelrazik while he was visiting his mother in 2003, and he was held captive and questioned for two years before being released and cleared of any wrongdoing. The RCMP and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service have also stated that Abdelrazik is not a threat.

However, the Conservative government had refused to issue travel documents to Abdelrazik in order for him to return home to Montreal, saying that his name had been added to a UN Security Council list banning international travel for people suspected of terrorist activities.

Abdelrazik’s lawyers argued his case in the Federal Court, and on June 4th, 2009, Federal Court Judge Russell Zinn ordered the Canadian government to bring Abdelrazik back to Canada within 30 days.

The Canadian government decided not to appeal the decision.

Abdelrazik thanked his supporters in Canada, who had pitched in to buy his return ticket as well as voiced their support for his return home.

“I’m very happy to come back home and it's your support that this happen now. And I thank you very much for everything. Really, thank you," he said on Saturday.