From: "Gary Britt" 

Maybe because until recent elections the Canadian government had more
sympathy for the terrorist enemies of the USA than the USA.

Gary

"Dave Ings"  wrote in message
news:442c2502$1{at}w3....
> 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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