Gadhafi son's ex-bodyguard to be deported from Canada - Action News
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Gadhafi son's ex-bodyguard to be deported from Canada

A Canadian-based bodyguard with ties to Libya's deposed Gadhafi regime was ordered to be deported from Canada on Tuesday.

Australian Gary Peters ordered to leave country by Immigration and Refugee Board

Gary Peters deported

12 years ago
Duration 2:37
An Australian who has been living in Canada for years received a deportation order today because of his connections to the family of former Libya dictator Moammar Gadhafi

A Canadian-based bodyguard with ties to Libyas deposed Gadhafi regime was ordered to be deported from Canada on Tuesday.

The Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada has ordered Gary Peters deported for his role in smuggling Saadi Gadhafi, the son of Libyas deposed dictator Moammar, across the Libyan border to Niger in 2011.

Peters, an Australian who is currently based in Cambridge, Ont., has lived in Canada since 2002. The Canada Border Services Agency moved to deport Peters in July 2012, alleging that by helping the Gadhafi family he was complicit in war crimes. Peters has been under travel restrictions due to the accusations since mid-July.

Peters admits he continued to work with Gadhafi even after the UN imposed sanctions against the Libyan regime in 2011, but insists he was careful to not break any laws.

"I'm scared I'll be deported," Peters told the CBCs Dave Seglins and John Nicol last year. "I think it's inevitable to be honest with you. I think [CBSA] made their minds up and that it's up to me to prove I didn't do these things."

Peters cannot file an appeal with the Immigration Appeal Division, but he has 15 days to seek a judicial review of the order in Federal Court. He can also seek a ministerial certificate to stay based on humanitarian grounds because of his Canadian wife, children, home and business.

Connection to Cyndy Vanier case

Peters is also connected to Canadian Cyndy Vanier, an SNC-Lavalin mediator who is imprisoned in Mexico for allegedly plotting to smuggle Gadhafi family members into that country.

After meeting Vanier in Attawapiskat, Ont., Peters worked as Vaniers bodyguard as she carried out a fact-finding tour of Libya for SNC-Lavalin. Peters claims they later planned to move Gadhafi to a safe house in Mexico, but the plan was scrapped when they deemed it couldnt be done legally which Vanier denies.

Vanier, who Mexican officials charged with a list of offences including attempted human trafficking, involvement in organized crime and falsification of documents, blames Peters for her predicament.

Vanier said that after travelling to Libya with Peters in July 2011, she severed all ties and refused to do any further work with him due to his behaviour and performance.