Syria has turned down a request from the Maher Arar inquiry for assistance in unravelling the circumstances of the Ottawa man's arrest and deportation. The decision could make it tougher to get to the bottom of how and why Ottawa resident Arar wound up in a Syrian prison as a terrorism suspect. In its refusal to provide information, Syria cited the lack of an overall agreement with Canada with respect to legal co-operation, said Paul Cavalluzzo, commission counsel for the inquiry. "We were certainly hoping that the Syrian government would co-operate," he told reporters Monday. "My own view is that they could co-operate, with or without an agreement."
| If their view is that they won't, you're up the creek, aren't you? |
The Foreign Affairs Department also said the absence of a treaty should not preclude sharing of information with the inquiry. Syria's decision came as parties to the investigation tussled at hearings Monday over ground rules for deciding how much information about Arar's case will be disclosed publicly. Arar, a Syrian-born Canadian citizen, was detained in New York on suspicions of terrorism in September 2002. The telecommunications engineer, travelling on a Canadian passport, was subsequently deported to Syria by U.S. authorities after a stop in Jordan. Arar says he was tortured for months by Syrian officials before being released. He denies any involvement in terrorism.
Earlier this year, the federal government appointed Justice Dennis O'Connor to lead an inquiry into the case. The inquiry had asked Syria, Jordan and the United States to help the commission piece together details of the affair. Formal letters were sent to the three countries by diplomatic pouch last month via Foreign Affairs. Cavalluzzo said the inquiry will work on its own to corroborate statements made about Arar by Syrian officials. "We'll have to do that through other means, and we will." Officials at the Syrian Embassy in Ottawa were not immediately available. |