Ottawa issued travel visas to Syrian general's family
Relatives visited Montreal so hardliner's grandchild would be born Canadian citizen
BY MICHAEL DEN TANDT
FRIDAY, JUNE 24, 2005 UPDATED AT 5:25 AM EDT
FROM FRIDAY'S GLOBE AND MAIL
Ottawa - The daughter and daughter-in-law of a hard-line Syrian general have received visitor's visas from the Canadian embassy in Damascus to allow them to give birth in Canada and confer citizenship on the general's grandchildren, sources say.
Zeina Khair and her mother, Soha Tabaa, recently returned to Syria after a spring visit during which Ms. Khair delivered a baby girl, a Syrian source familiar with the situation said.
Montreal interior designer Maya Samaan sponsored the visit. "They're friends of mine, they happened to come here for a while, and they left," she said.
Ms. Khair is married to Majed Suleiman, the son of General Bahjat Suleiman. Until last week, Gen. Suleiman was chief of Syrian interior intelligence and one of the most powerful members of the country's dictatorial regime.
Gen. Suleiman's daughter, Randala Suleiman, also received a Canadian tourist visa from the embassy in Damascus, but has not yet used it, a source familiar with the situation said. The visa is valid for six months and expires in November.
Randala Suleiman is seven months pregnant and intends to travel to Montreal this summer to give birth, the source said.
It is common for the children of senior Syrian regime figures to travel to Canada to deliver their children, the source added. "The political interest is to have a safe haven for their children and also to guarantee study for them at low cost."
According to the Department of Citizenship and Immigration, there is no rule or law preventing the practice.
Ms. Khair and Ms. Suleiman have delivered babies in Canada, in 2002 and 2003, respectively, the source said. In those cases, the visas were issued after Gen. Suleiman made a request to the embassy.
At that time, the ambassador in Damascus was Franco Pillarella, who sparked an uproar last week at the Arar inquiry when he refused to acknowledge Syria's poor record on human rights.
There is no evidence that Mr. Pillarella, now ambassador to Romania, or the current Canadian ambassador to Damascus, Brian J. Davis, personally intervened in the Suleiman cases.
Sources say Mr. Davis and the younger Mr. Suleiman know each other socially. Mr. Davis and his wife, Beverley, received positive treatment in the most recent two issues of the English-language version of Layalina, a Damascus-based restaurant and society magazine owned by Majed Suleiman.
An article in the May edition describes Canadians as "tolerant, easygoing people who can live and interact with everyone and adjust to all circumstances," and concludes that "all these characteristics are combined and very well reflected in one man, who happens to be the perfect representative of his country and of the Canadian people, Mr. Brian J. Davis."
Sources at the Department of Foreign Affairs would neither confirm nor deny that the general's daughter and daughter-in-law were given visas, citing the Privacy Act.
Department spokesman Sébastien Théberge said only that "our ambassadors apply the highest degree of diligence in their daily work and Ambassador Davis is a man of integrity. He is not involved in managing visa applications."
Immigration Minister Joe Volpe could not be reached for comment yesterday. His spokesman, Stephen Heckbert, denied that either the minister or anyone in his office had been alerted to the request.
"The minister's office did not receive a heads-up on the issuance of this particular visitor's visa, no."
Requests for personal comment from Mr. Pillarella and Mr. Davis were declined.
Immigration lawyer Lorne Waldman, who has dealt with Syrian cases, including the matter of Maher Arar, said visa requests from members of a prominent regime family would not have been granted without discussions at a senior level.
"You can be sure that there were consultations at very high levels and there was a political decision made, in the interests of 'good relations,' " Mr. Waldman said.
Richard Kurland, also an immigration lawyer, noted the irony of the case, considering Canada's recent experiences with Syria.
"Our Middle East foreign policy bureaucrats couldn't manage to get Arar out of a Syrian prison, but they sure could facilitate citizenship for the family of Syria's notorious intelligence director," he said.
"I would sure like to know who was at the switch."
Martin Collacott, who was ambassador to Syria in the early 1990s, confirmed that so-called "birth citizenship" is widespread in countries such as Syria, and criticized the practice.
"What gives you the right to get Canadian citizenship for your child just by coming here to have the baby?"
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