MONTREAL - More than 100 people -- mostly Canadians -- are pitching in to buy a plane ticket for a Montrealer who has been living in the lobby of the Canadian Embassy in Sudan for nearly a year.

Those contributing financially to Abousfian Abdelrazik's plane ticket can be prosecuted under Canadian law because his name is still on a UN terrorist blacklist.

Supporters of Abdelrazik, a Canadian citizen once labelled an al-Qaida operative, held a news conference in Montreal today to say his flight is expected to leave Khartoum on April 3.

Abdelrazik's passport has expired and Canadian authorities say he must pay for a plane ticket before they issue him travel documents.

Abdelrazik was visiting his ailing mother in Sudan in 2003 when he was arrested for alleged terror links.

He was not charged and was later freed because Sudanese investigators found no evidence to support criminal charges.

Abdelrazik, 47, alleges he was tortured during his imprisonment.