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**aliceingoogs** · 01-26-2007, 09:12 PM

Canada compensates man U.S. deported to Syria - CNN.com

OTTAWA, Canada (AP) -- Canada's prime minister apologized to Maher Arar on Friday and announced the government would compensate him C$10.5 million (US$8.9 million) for its role in his deportation from the U.S. to Syria, where he was tortured while held in prison for nearly a year.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper again called on the U.S. government to remove the Ottawa telecoms engineer from any of its no-fly or terrorist watchlists and reiterated that Ottawa would keep pressing Washington to clear Arar's name.

"We think the evidence is absolutely clear and that the United States should in good faith remove Mr. Arar from the list," Harper told a news conference in Ottawa. "We don't intend to either change or drop our position."

The U.S. government has repeatedly insisted it has reasons to leave the 37-year-old on its watchlists. The issue has grown into an unpleasant diplomatic row between the world's largest trading partners and closest allies. Not sure if this case is getting as much attention in the States as it is here but this has dragged on for years. The Chief of the RCMP resigned because of it. I think the US should own up to its mistake and take the guy of the watch list.

On a completely seperate note, would the fact that Syria is torturing suspected terrorists seem to suggest they are more in cooperation with the US than the Bush administration portrays?

01-26-2007, 09:12 PM	#1
aliceingoogs Join Date Oct 2005 Posts 607 Senior Member	Maher Arar given $10mil for being sent by US to Syria for torture Canada compensates man U.S. deported to Syria - CNN.com OTTAWA, Canada (AP) -- Canada's prime minister apologized to Maher Arar on Friday and announced the government would compensate him C$10.5 million (US$8.9 million) for its role in his deportation from the U.S. to Syria, where he was tortured while held in prison for nearly a year. Prime Minister Stephen Harper again called on the U.S. government to remove the Ottawa telecoms engineer from any of its no-fly or terrorist watchlists and reiterated that Ottawa would keep pressing Washington to clear Arar's name. "We think the evidence is absolutely clear and that the United States should in good faith remove Mr. Arar from the list," Harper told a news conference in Ottawa. "We don't intend to either change or drop our position." The U.S. government has repeatedly insisted it has reasons to leave the 37-year-old on its watchlists. The issue has grown into an unpleasant diplomatic row between the world's largest trading partners and closest allies. Not sure if this case is getting as much attention in the States as it is here but this has dragged on for years. The Chief of the RCMP resigned because of it. I think the US should own up to its mistake and take the guy of the watch list. On a completely seperate note, would the fact that Syria is torturing suspected terrorists seem to suggest they are more in cooperation with the US than the Bush administration portrays?
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