Parliament but not Harper or govt. apologise to Arar

[ken hanly <northsunm@xxxxxxxxx>]

NOte that Harper and Day complained about Liberal
govt. attempts to release Arar whom they call a
suspected terrorist from his Syrian jail!

Cheers, Ken Hanly

Arar gets apology from House of Commons, not quite
from government
Wed Sep 20, 7:19 PM



By Jim Brown

OTTAWA (CP) - Maher Arar finally has a unanimous
apology from the House of Commons for his detention
and torture in Syria.


But a senior Conservative minister insisted Wednesday
that he and other cabinet members were expressing
their personal feelings by joining in the move - not
necessarily speaking for the government. "As
parliamentarians, we obviously have a function that's
completely different from the executive branch of
government," said Transport Minister Lawrence Cannon.


"As parliamentarians we're completely sympathetic."


The confusion arose after the Bloc Quebecois presented
a motion stating that "in the opinion of this House an
apology should be presented to Maher Arar regarding
the treatment he has been subjected to."


Prime Minister Stephen Harper had repeatedly refused
to offer such an apology on behalf of the government
since the release of a public inquiry report that
cleared Arar's name Monday.


But the Tories, apparently fearing political
embarrassment, gave their consent Wednesday after the
Liberals and NDP signed on to the Bloc motion.


Harper wasn't in the Commons, having departed for New
York and an appearance at the United Nations General
Assembly.


There was no immediate comment from his office on why
the Tories drew a distinction between a parliamentary
and a government apology.


Many suspect, however, that legal issues lie behind
the move. Arar has a civil suit pending in which he is
claiming millions in damages from the government.


The 36-year-old telecommunications engineer was
arrested by U.S. authorities in September 2002 and
deported to his native Syria, even though he is now a
Canadian citizen and was travelling on a Canadian
passport.


He was tortured during a year in Damascus into false
confessions of links to al-Qaida.


Justice Dennis O'Connor, in his report Monday,
concluded the U.S. arrest was "very likely" the result
of inaccurate and misleading information passed to the
Americans by the RCMP.


Bloc Leader Gilles Duceppe brushed aside the fine
point of whether the Conservatives were acting as
individual MPs or on behalf of the government in
expressing their regrets Wednesday.


"It is a formal apology by the House of Commons," said
Duceppe. "It was adopted unanimously."


NDP Leader Jack Layton welcomed Tory support for the
motion but called it "unfortunate" that Harper
couldn't be present in the House when it passed.


"I hope that he will now, in writing, convey his sense
of apology on behalf of all the citizens of Canada as
the prime minister," said Layton.


Interim Liberal leader Bill Graham noted that Harper
and Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day, when they
were in opposition, berated him for his efforts as
foreign affairs minister to free Arar from captivity
in Syria.

"We were working to try and release an innocent
Canadian citizen and what we were being accused of . .
. was working against the interests of the country,"
said Graham.

"It just demonstrates how totally ridiculous it was."

During an exchange in the Commons in November 2002,
Harper portrayed Graham as engaging in "high-level
consultations to defend a suspected terrorist."

In another exchange, Day accused the Liberals of
"hitting the snooze button on security matters."

On Wednesday, Jason Kenney, Harper's parliamentary
secretary, confirmed the Tory government has formally
removed the names of Arar and his wife, Monia Mazigh,
from federal look-out lists of potential terrorists.

It wasn't immediately clear, however, whether that
will end the difficulties Arar has endured at the
country's airports whenever he boards a flight.

He has been pulled aside more than once for secondary
screening - apparently because some carriers,
including Air Canada, rely on a U.S. no-fly list on
which his name still appears.

The government and the Mounties have been under siege
since the report of the O'Connor inquiry was released,
complete with nearly two dozen recommendations, most
dealing with internal reforms in the RCMP.

Public Safety Minister Day repeated previous
assurances Wednesday that the government "'accepts all
the recommendations" offered by O'Connor.

But he has set no timetable for implementation, and
has dodged questions about whether Ottawa will file a
formal diplomatic protest with the U.S. and Syria over
Arar's treatment.

RCMP Commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli, who was in Rio
de Janeiro at an Interpol meeting when the report was
made public, returned to Ottawa on Wednesday. He
offered no public comment, however, and spokesmen for
the force were unable to say when he will respond to
the inquiry report.