If his reported admissions to Afghan authorities are true, a young Canadian man of Pakistani origin went to Afghanistan to die as a suicide bomber -- just like his brother.
"(Afghan authorities) say in the written statement that the Canadian has admitted to planning to carry out a suicide bomb attack in the city," CTV's Steve Chao told Newsnet on Saturday.
"It also goes on to say that he confessed that his brother was the suicide bomber behind a Sept. 30 attack last year in Kabul that happened in the main gate of the government office.
"You may recall that this was one of the more spectacular or massive bomb attacks in Kabul in recent years. It killed as many as 12 people and injured more than 42."
Chao issued a caution: "We want to stress that these are incredible revelations that have yet to be confirmed. And at this point, we understand that the Canadian has not been charged with any crime. But if it turns out to be true, it will be the first time in several years that two Canadian brothers or a Canadian family has been involved in Afghanistan fighting alongside or for the Taliban or al Qaeda."
In Ottawa, Foreign Affairs spokesman Rejean Beaulieu told The Canadian Press that he couldn't confirm any Canadian had been involved in the 2006 Kabul bombing, adding he was "not aware of this."
Chao said details are murky about how the Canadian ended up in Afghanistan.
He apparently left Calgary about three months ago and made his way to Pakistan where he trained with insurgents in the lawless border region with Afghanistan, before eventually travelling into Afghanistan, where he was arrested in a Kabul bus station after arriving in the capital city, he said.
"He appeared nervous, authorities pulled him aside, and eventually arrested him. During interrogation, he admitted to being a suicide bomber," Chao said.
While neither Foreign Affairs nor Afghan authorities have identified the man, both have confirmed that a Canadian is being held in a Kabul prison reserved for terrorists, Chao said.
Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay said consular officials have been given access to the prisoner, but he would say little else.
In Calgary, an Alberta imam has said he is almost certain he met the young Canadian man who has been arrested in Afghanistan and is being held on allegations he joined the insurgency.
The Globe and Mail reports that several months ago, Sheikh Alaa Elsayed urged a University of Calgary computer science student to give up his ideas of fighting with insurgents in Afghanistan.
He told The Globe that Internet propaganda had "brainwashed" the man. The father was so worried his son would go overseas to fight that he arranged for him to sit down with the imam.
The cleric now says he is afraid he failed to convince the young man to abandon his ideas.
"You are going to put 65,000 Muslims in Calgary in jeopardy," he said he told him, warning that his Afghanistan plans were not supported by Islam and could prompt a severe backlash against other Muslims.
The imam refused to reveal the identity of the young man.
However, in some reports, he has been named as 24-year-old Sohail Qureshi.
Elsayed said he had not spoken to the young man's family recently, but vowed to be there for them if he was needed.
"I would presume that the family is under serious stress tonight," Elsayed told Newsnet on Saturday.
"I actually did not try to contact them. I will give them also the respect and the time that they need for now. But, however, if they wish to contact me, I'll be more than happy to be there for them."
Elsayed told CP he couldn't confirm the claim that the detained man's brother had been a suicide bomber.
With files from The Canadian Press
