Collge de Maisonneuve suspends Adil Charkaoui courses

Montreals Collge de Maisonneuve CEGEP has abruptly broken a contract to rent classroom space to Adil Charkaoui.

Sources tell CBC that one of the people who took his courses is linked toa group of six studentssuspected of joining jihadists in Syria.

On Thursday the school said it was suspendingthe contract after it found out a video was circulated among members of the school that was described as promoting values that are different from ours.

Collge de Maisonneuve had agreed to rent four classrooms to teach Arabic and Quran studies, as well astwo sports courts, to Charkaouis Ecole des compagnons.

CollgedeRosementalso suspended its contract on Thursday with the school, which is associated with theCentre communautaire islamique de l'est de Montral.

Thebreak between Charkaoui and Collge de Maisonneuve happened the same day it was learned that six youngQuebecers are believed to have joined the ranks of the Islamic State in Syria.

• Syrian jihadists believed to have recruited 6 young Quebecers

Four of the six people were enrolled in the Collge de Maisonneuve last fall.

Three of the people left the country January 15, while the others left mid-February.

Four members of the group are men, while the other two are women.

[Collge de Rosemont] cares about the current global context and the phenomenon of radicalization. To this end, measures have already been initiated by the college to minimize this social phenomenon which has negative impacts and is dangerous for our youth, wrote Collge de Rosemont executive director Stphane Godbout.

Charkaoui was arrested in 2003 on a security certificate under suspicion of terrorism-related activities. He won his challenge of the certificate several years later.

He now lives in Montreal and is an outspoken advocate against Islamophobia. He became a Canadian citizen last summer.

Charkaouihas declined to comment on the suspension, however, he says he will hold a news conference Friday morning.