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Friends of man killed in Chechnya missing
MARY GORDON
OTTAWA BUREAU
OTTAWAâ â€Two friends of a Canadian reported killed in Chechnya last week have gone missing.
Kamal Elbahja of Maple Ridge, B.C., and Azar Tagiev, who was working in Vancouver, knew Rudwan Khalil, 26, from Vancouver's soccer scene. Russian officials reported last week that Khalil was killed by their special forces village of Niki-Khita in the mountainous Kurchaloi region of Chechnya.
Elbahja is Canadian. Tagiev's citizenship is unknown but his employer, Percy von Lipinski, said Tagiev is from Azerbaijan.
Foreign Affairs Minister Pierre Pettigrew said the department is studying the case.
"Unfortunately, the information about the other two Canadians has just been brought to our attention and we don't have any more information at this time. Our Canadian embassy is in contact with the relevant Russian authorities," he said.
Foreign Affairs learned the two men were missing on Thursday.
Khalil's lawyer, Phil Rankin, said Elbahja and Khalil flew to Saudi Arabia in June to visit Khalil's cousins and his father, an accountant. The two friends were then going to Tagiev's wedding in Azerbaijan, Rankin said.
Elbahja and Khalil were supposed to return in August. Khalil, who had a retail job, was due to start at a course at the British Columbia Institute of Technology on Sept. 5., Rankin said.
But Khalil's family heard from him less and less. A cousin in Saudi Arabia told the family Khalil had gone to Russia.
The family presumed he went there on the way to Tagiev's wedding.
Tagiev managed the Vancouver office of Visa Connection, an 18-year-old company with offices in several North American cities.
The company arranges visas for travellers to foreign companies.
"If you need to get out of the country we're your company," said von Lipinski, the company's founder.
Von Lipinski said Tagiev left in May to visit his dying brother who was hurt in a car accident and didn't mention getting married.
Von Lipinski, who has been interviewed by CSIS about the case, said his former employee was about 31 and didn't seem the fighting type.
"This is a very peaceful quiet guy as I know him," von Lipinsky said.
Friends of man killed in Chechnya missing
MARY GORDON
OTTAWA BUREAU
OTTAWAâ â€Two friends of a Canadian reported killed in Chechnya last week have gone missing.
Kamal Elbahja of Maple Ridge, B.C., and Azar Tagiev, who was working in Vancouver, knew Rudwan Khalil, 26, from Vancouver's soccer scene. Russian officials reported last week that Khalil was killed by their special forces village of Niki-Khita in the mountainous Kurchaloi region of Chechnya.
Elbahja is Canadian. Tagiev's citizenship is unknown but his employer, Percy von Lipinski, said Tagiev is from Azerbaijan.
Foreign Affairs Minister Pierre Pettigrew said the department is studying the case.
"Unfortunately, the information about the other two Canadians has just been brought to our attention and we don't have any more information at this time. Our Canadian embassy is in contact with the relevant Russian authorities," he said.
Foreign Affairs learned the two men were missing on Thursday.
Khalil's lawyer, Phil Rankin, said Elbahja and Khalil flew to Saudi Arabia in June to visit Khalil's cousins and his father, an accountant. The two friends were then going to Tagiev's wedding in Azerbaijan, Rankin said.
Elbahja and Khalil were supposed to return in August. Khalil, who had a retail job, was due to start at a course at the British Columbia Institute of Technology on Sept. 5., Rankin said.
But Khalil's family heard from him less and less. A cousin in Saudi Arabia told the family Khalil had gone to Russia.
The family presumed he went there on the way to Tagiev's wedding.
Tagiev managed the Vancouver office of Visa Connection, an 18-year-old company with offices in several North American cities.
The company arranges visas for travellers to foreign companies.
"If you need to get out of the country we're your company," said von Lipinski, the company's founder.
Von Lipinski said Tagiev left in May to visit his dying brother who was hurt in a car accident and didn't mention getting married.
Von Lipinski, who has been interviewed by CSIS about the case, said his former employee was about 31 and didn't seem the fighting type.
"This is a very peaceful quiet guy as I know him," von Lipinsky said.