Anas al-Tikriti, British-Iraqi founder of Cordoba, denied entry to Canada

The British-Iraqi founder of the Cordoba Foundation, Anas al-Tikriti, was refused entry to Canada and held for hours at Montreal airport earlier this week.

Tikriti had planned to speak at a Muslim Association of Canada convention in Toronto from 16 to 18 May, but was sent back to London after being interrogated for 11 hours on arrival.

"For hours, officers asked me the very same questions I had already answered on my ETA [Electronic Travel Authorisation] form, including the absurd and insulting 'Have you ever been associated with narcotics, terrorist, or criminal groups?' There was no substance to any of it," Tikriti said in a statement.

"No one asked about my views, my ideas, what I intended to say at the convention. Nothing. In fact, when at one point I offered to explain or clarify something, the officer made clear that he preferred if I didn’t.

"It was clear to me within the first three hours that they had no intention of allowing me into Canada, and that the hours that followed were a search for a pretext.

Tikriti said the officer claimed he had incorrectly stated on his ETA application that he had never been denied a visa by another country, even though he had been refused a US visa in 2023.

Tikriti founded the Cordoba Foundation in 2005 to promote dialogue between the West and Islam. The foundation also advises politicians on strategy and security in the Middle East.

In 2014, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), where he spent his teenage years and early twenties, designated Cordoba a terrorist organisation.

The Muslim Association of Britain said the Canadian government's decision to deny Tikriti entry appeared to be driven by "bad-faith pressure from those seeking to suppress voices speaking out against Israel’s crimes and the genocide in Gaza".

In 2021, Tikriti learned that forensic investigators believed the UAE had hacked his iPhone using Pegasus, spyware developed by the Israeli company NSO Group that can turn mobile phones into military-grade surveillance devices.

"I would, frankly, have had more respect for the Canadian immigration authorities had they simply said so. That they were under pressure not to admit me," Tikriti said in his statement.