Quebecer arrested in Turkey described as top ISIL official

A Quebec man accused of providing weapons training to terrorists in Syria was being detained in Turkey, according to press reports in that country.

Wassim Boughadou was arrested at Adana airport on March 10 as he was attempting to fly to Istanbul, a report on CNN’s Turkish affiliate reported Thursday.

Calling him a senior ISIL official, the reports said he was on his way to Europe and possibly Canada when he was arrested by counter-terrorism police. Video showed him being led out a courthouse by two escorts, who put him into a van. He was being held for terrorist financing and membership in a terrorist group.

The RCMP referred questions to Global Affairs Canada, which said officials were “in contact with local authorities to gather additional information” about the matter.

“Consular services are being provided to a Canadian citizen who has been detained in Adana, Turkey, as well as to their family,” said spokesman Austin Jean.

The arrest comes as Western counter-terrorism agencies are bracing for the return of foreign fighters as ISIL loses turf in Syria and Iraq.

The Montreal-born 25-year-old was one of several Quebec college students under RCMP investigation over alleged extremism when he left for Turkey in 2012.

Police began probing the group after the owners of a Montreal gun range overheard one of them saying he wished the targets they were shooting at were infidels.

Boughadou’s name has since surfaced at the terrorism trial of his brother-in-law Ismael Habib. Habib has claimed Boughadou convinced him to leave Canada to avoid police scrutiny.

In an interview with La Presse in January, Boughadou said he had turned to religion at age 18 and that Canadian police suspected he was “a training provider,” which he denied. He said he had been interested in weapons and martial arts since he was young and that, “In Islam, you’re supposed to be able to defend your family. We must know how to use weapons.”

“If you are a Muslim, you have no right to exist. Especially if you have a political vision of Islam that they do not like,” he said. “When you are oppressed, you have to defend yourself. We must fight to defend Islam.”