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Vancouver Sun - January 19, 2007
Arar affair a 'black mark' on America, senator says
By Sheldon Alberts
Washington -- U.S. Senate Democrats on Thursday threatened congressional hearings into the Maher Arar affair, calling the deportation of the Canadian engineer to Syria a "black mark" on America.
Senator Patrick Leahy, chairman of the Senate judiciary committee, demanded the Bush administration provide intelligence information to back its claim Arar was ever a security threat to Americans. The Vermont Democrat also asked for a detailed explanation about why Arar still remains on a U.S. terror watch list despite being cleared last year by a Canadian inquiry.
During a heated exchange at the committee with U.S. Attorney-General Alberto Gonzales, Leahy said he was perplexed "this country has not said anything at all that we made a mistake or had any apology" to Arar.
"The Canadian government has apologized for its part in this debacle," Leahy said.
"Why is he on a [U.S.] government watch list if he's been found completely innocent by this Canadian commission?"
Arar, a Syrian-born Canadian, was detained by U.S. authorities at New York's JFK airport in 2002 and deported to Syria, where he was imprisoned and tortured for nearly a year.
Justice Dennis O'Connor, in report last September to the federal government, found no evidence Arar was a security threat and said the RCMP gave false information to U.S. authorities identifying the former Ottawa engineer as an Islamic extremist. Former RCMP commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli resigned over the case and apologized last year -- the only Canadian official to publicly express regret to Arar and his family. Prime Minister Stephen Harper has deferred an apology until a civil suit against the federal government is complete.
Gonzales promised to provide Democrats and Republicans on the judiciary committee with a confidential briefing on Arar within a week, saying he had "some very definite views about this particular case."
In fact, Gonzales added: "We may be able to say more about this publicly shortly. I'm just not at liberty at this time to say more."
Leahy said he found it inexcusable that U.S. officials did not return Arar to Canada after detaining him on suspicions of connections to a terrorist network. "We knew damn well if he went back to Canada he wouldn't be tortured. He would be held and he would be investigated, " Leahy thundered, wagging his finger at Gonzales……
http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=abd01040-91da-4efc-9fc6-091b0fb42c61
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