The imam of Ottawa’s main mosque will be able to stay in Canada and continue his work now that the government has renewed his visa. Imam Khaled Abdul-Hamid Syed was ordered to leave the country last month when immigration officials informed him that his application to extend his work permit had been denied and that he would have to return home to apply for another visa. The decision by Canadian immigration was apparently due to a mix up with paperwork, and later corrected. Imam Khaled’s new visa will allow him to stay in Canada until the end of his appointment in July 2011. The Egyptian-born imam, came to Ottawa on loan from the Egyptian Ministry of Religious Affairs and is paid by the Egyptian embassy.■

Imam Khaled Abdul-Hamid Syed has a new visa that allows him to stay on in Canada until July 2011.