Scientist accused of developing Syria’s chemical weapons program traced to Edmonton

sarin into the rebel-held Ghouta district of Damascus.As the chemical clouds spread, residents began to froth at the mouth. Fluid oozed from their eyes and noses as they convulsed and suffocated.The Ghouta gas attack killed up to 1,400 people, many of them children, and was the latest display of the horrors of chemical warfare.Ten years later, Global News has traced a scientist accused of helping Syria develop its chemical weapons program to an Edmonton suburb.De-classified Canadian government documents allege that Ahmad Haytham Alyafi made a “significant contribution to the manufacturing of chemical weapons.”From 1974 to 1994, the chemical engineer worked at the military-run centre that produces chemical weapons for the Syrian regime, federal officials wrote in the documents.Alyafi “set up a plant he knew would manufacture chemical weapons; he therefore contributed significantly to their production,” according to the documents, which call his role “indispensable.”But when rescue workers were collecting bodies in Ghouta a decade ago, Alyafi was living in a 2,500-square-foot home on a cul-de-sac in Edmonton’s west end, the records show.“Mom and dad have been living with us at our house in Edmonton since the spring of 2013,” Alyafi’s son wrote in a 2019 letter sponsoring his parents for permanent residence in Canada.“My dad picks up the kids from school daily and they spend time with them on homework after school time,” wrote the son, who works in the Alberta construction industry.Immigration records from 2019 list the Syrian scientist as “currently residing in Canada.” The address he used was a four-bedroom home in Edmonton’s Glastonbury neighbourhood.Whether he remained in Edmonton was unclear.