Canadian Agency Knew About U.S. Renditions in 2002, Report Says

Canadian Agency Knew About U.S. Renditions in 2002, Report Says

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601082&sid=a0d4utHAjOyA&refer=canada

By Alexandre Deslongchamps

Aug. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Canada's intelligence agency knew in 2002 that the U.S. was sending terrorism suspects to countries with poor human-rights records, and suspected the FBI or CIA had sent a Canadian to the Middle East for ``firm'' questioning, newly released sections of an inquiry report show.

``When the CIA or FBI cannot legally hold a terrorist subject, or wish a target questioned in a firm manner, they have them rendered to countries willing to fulfill that role,'' a Washington-based Canadian intelligence officer told his superiors on Oct. 11, 2002, according to the amended version of the report. The report says the officer called Canadian Maher Arar, tortured in his native Syria after U.S. officials arrested him in New York the month before, ``a case in point.''

The revelations come a day after a Canadian federal judge ordered the release of details the government had withheld for national-security reasons. The inquiry, led by Canadian judge Dennis O'Connor, was into the case of Arar, who was flown to Syria after U.S. officials arrested him on a stopover in John F. Kennedy International Airport and accused him of links to al-Qaeda. O'Connor's findings came out last September.

The probe found Canadian police gave inaccurate information to the U.S. about Arar and leaked secret details to the media to hurt his reputation, and that Arar was jailed and tortured while in Syria. It also found Canadian officials weren't directly involved in sending him to the Middle East.

`Have Their Way'

According to the new version of the report, a Canadian official wrote a memo to his superiors on Oct. 10, 2002, saying, ``I think the U.S. would like to get Arar to Jordan where they can have their way with him.'' The original and new versions of the report say Canadian officials didn't know where Arar was at the time the memo was written.

The O'Connor investigation was ordered by former Canadian Justice Minister Anne McLellan in January 2004.

After O'Connor's report was published, Canada agreed to pay Arar C$10.5 million ($9.94 million) in compensation. Arar, who filed lawsuits against the U.S. and Canadian governments after his release and return from Syria, was named 2004's top newsmaker by Time Magazine's Canadian edition.

Former RCMP Commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli quit in December after being accused of misleading a parliamentary committee probing the Arar case.

U.S. President George W. Bush issued an executive order July 20 barring the Central Intelligence Agency from torturing terrorism suspects. Lawmakers such as Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Joe Biden and civil-liberties groups have expressed skepticism over whether the order would stop torture, in part because it doesn't explicitly forbid the U.S. from sending suspects to other countries.