From: "Dave Ings" 

The short version as I recall it: an early 30s Canadian citizen of North
African (perhaps Syrian, I can't recall) descent of no particular security
interest (also a software guy, like me) who was in transit (returning from
vacation) from North Africa to Canada via JFK. Detained at JFK (supposedly
partly on the basis of bogus information supplied by the RCMP to US
immigration services) and held for several days in New York. Then shipped
by private jet via Rome and Jordan to Syria where he was tortured during a
year long captivity. Released by Syria and returned to Canada when they
decided he was uninteresting (also when the negative PR finally got the
Canadian government to act). His life and career have been shattered, as
you might imagine.

The long version:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/arar/

His lawsuit against the US government was thrown out of court about a month
ago for reasons I don't fully understand, apparently jurisdictional in
nature. Google his name and you'll get over 300K hits. Also the subject of
a major Canadian Parliamentary inquiry:

http://www.ararcommission.ca/eng/

The thing I never understood about the entire situation: even if he was a
bad guy (which all evidence says he was not) why the heck wouldn't the US
extradite him from New York to Montreal (250 miles away) rather than hiring
a private jet to send him to the Middle East? This is why many Canadians
are very suspicious of the RCMP's role in this, and further suspect the
Canadian
& US security services sent him to the Middle East to be tortured.

What happened to him was hugely tragic, I see it as an unfortunate
consequence of post 9/11 traumatized people making fearful and erroneous
decisions under pressure. I don't see any grand conspiracy in play.
--
Regards,
Dave Ings,
Toronto, Canada

"Gary Britt"  wrote in message
news:442c0f08{at}w3....
> Not familiar with that case?  What are the alleged facts?
>
> Gary
>
> "Dave Ings"  wrote in message
news:442bdb5c{at}w3....
>> I don't know him "personally" but Maher Arar is an
egregious example of
>> rendition and torture.
>> --
>> Regards,
>> Dave Ings,
>> Toronto, Canada
>>

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