B.C. fugitive Rabih Alkhalil arrested in Qatar 3 years after jailbreak

After three years on the run, Rabih Alkhalil is in custody overseas.

The Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit – British Columbia (CFSEU-BC) and the Federal Policing – Pacific Region (FP-PR) confirmed on Thursday that Alkhalil was arrested in Qatar under an alias earlier this month.

On Sept. 8, Global News learned that Alkhalil had been arrested in Qatar; however, at a press conference, the RCMP said they were unable to confirm Alkhalil was arrested in the Middle Eastern country.

“There was no confirmation for us until there’s official confirmation, we cannot make those claims,” Cpl. Sarbjit Sangha, media relations officer for the CFSEU-BC, told Global News.

“Now that we have official confirmation from Qatar, we can share the information with the public as we promised on Sept. 8.”

In 2022, Alkhalil broke out of the North Fraser Pretrial Centre in Port Coquitlam. Police believe he was assisted by two men posing as contractors.

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Edward Paul Ayoub, 48, of Ottawa, John Brian Potvin, 49, of Ottawa and Ryan Edward Van Gool, 46, of Harrison Hot Springs, B.C., have each been charged with prison breach and conspiracy to commit a prison breach.

Potvin was arrested recently in Spain.

2:50 3 men arrested and charged in prison escape of B.C. fugitive Robbie Alkhalil

The CFSEU-BC and RCMP are working with Interpol and international partners to have Alkhalil returned to Canada, where he is wanted for being unlawfully at large after escaping prison while on trial for murder. Since his escape, Alkahlil has been convicted of murder that occurred in 2012 in Vancouver, British Columbia, making this his second first-degree murder charge, RCMP explained in a release.

“We have a really good relationship with the Qatar officials,” Sangha said.

“We are working with them, Interpol, as well as our international partner for the next steps, which is getting the paperwork to Qatar, to their officials, and the process of bringing him back to Canada have already started… I understand that people are aware that we do not have an extradition with Qatar. That is not an issue for us. They’ve been very supportive and have provided us the information that we needed to confirm his identity.”

Sangha said she did not have a timeline for Alkahlil’s return to Canadian soil.

-with files from Rumina Daya