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Immigration officials have not deported them yet because they could be at risk in Egypt, Mr. Kenney said. But that concern was based on their links to the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood, “and my view is that now that the Muslim Brotherhood is the government of Egypt, they should be delighted to go back,” he said.

The case of “Triple M,” as the Palestinian terrorist was known to some, had become symbolic of the flaws in Canada’s immigration system — often cited as an example of the government’s inability to control its borders. It had also angered many Canadians.

“It really was a thorn in our side, much like some of the known Nazi war criminals who were able to dodge the system,” said Shimon Fogel, CEO of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs. “There was just something glaringly unjust about his ability to take advantage of everything that Canada had to offer even though he had blood on his hands.”

On Boxing Day 1968, Mohammad and another PFLP member stormed an Israeli passenger plane as it was preparing for takeoff in Athens. They fired 83 rounds and lobbed six grenades at the Boeing 707, killing a passenger.

A Greek court sentenced Mohammad to 17 years in prison, but the government released him in 1970 after Palestinian terrorists hijacked a Greek airliner and threatened to kill everyone on board unless he was set free.

Mohammad eventually made his way to Madrid, where he applied to immigrate to Canada with his wife and three children. He failed to disclose he had been convicted of a terrorist crime, and by the time Canadian authorities caught up with him, he was already in Canada.