The Globe and Mail – January 30, 2011
To Cara Rain, he was a loving husband and father, one whose affection and religion helped her find the peace she’d long sought. But RCMP and U.S. intelligence officers allege her husband, Sayfildin Tahir Sharif, is a terrorist conspirator, one who helped co-ordinate attacks on American targets in Iraq. As he faced a bail hearing this week, Ms. Rain made her support for him clear. It paints a tale of two men – one a dutiful father, the other an alleged terrorist.
Mr. Sharif is a Canadian citizen and a stucco worker who lived in Edmonton with Ms. Rain, a grocery store worker, and her four children from a previous relationship. Mr. Sharif took the children in as his own, Ms. Rain said, and she took in something of his – religion – by converting to Islam.
Mr. Sharif is alleged to have used three aliases. He faces extradition to the United States and allegations of conspiring to murder U.S. nationals, providing material support for terrorists. He is alleged to have considered becoming a martyr himself, and hoping to travel to Iraq with a “mute bride with a crown,” which investigators say is code for a rifle with a viewing-scope and a silencer, and “a lot of children,” or ammunition.
