A Canadian man who returned to his homeland of Iraq a year ago to start a new business has been killed by his kidnappers.

Zaid Meerwali, who had dual Canadian-Iraqi citizenship, was taken hostage two weeks ago and murdered on Sunday.

His brother, Ramzi Meerwali, told CTV News Toronto that a group of men barged into Zaid’s compound, claiming to be part of the government.

“They took him right from the bed,” Meerwali said from Richmond Hill, a wealthy suburb of Toronto.

The 10 gunmen, disguised as police officers, hit Zaid’s wife with the butt of a rifle, stole his cash and jewellery and then took him away.

The abductors called the man’s family twice to arrange a $250,000 ransom. Ramzi said the family arranged to get the money, but the kidnappers stopped phoning.

Zaid was killed by a gunshot to the head, according to reports.

“He’s just a civilian. He’s just an innocent man,” his brother said.

The family informed Foreign Affairs of the kidnapping and when he was killed. The ransom negotiations were conducted in private.

Zaid fled Saddam Hussein’s regime in the 1990s. His family says he became a chartered accountant before returning to Iraq to open an import-export business. While in Iraq, he met and married a local woman.

I cannot pretend to understand what it is like for Canadian immigrants and refugees.
In the brief times I’ve been away from the country, I know what I feel coming home.
So I can’t know what it is like to flee a country, re-settle, and go back to make it a better place.
I cannot know the grief of the Meerwali family.
I am so sorry for their loss.