ON THE ARAR CASE, U.S. ENVOY ADMITS NOTHING (Washington resists making a mistake)
On the Arar case, U.S. envoy admits nothing
Last Updated: Monday, December 18, 2006 | 5:19 PM ET
Washington’s ambassador to Canada isn’t budging from a statement that Maher Arar was sent to Syria, where he was tortured, on information from multiple sources and not just a bad tip from the RCMP.
Although a Canadian public inquiry found no evidence linking him to terrorism and the Mounties have apologized to him, he remains on a U.S. watch list that bars him from entering the United States or flying over its territory.
Wilkins said last week that Arar’s current watch-list status, like his deportation to Syria, was based on information “from a variety of sources.”
Justice Dennis O’Connor, head of the Canadian inquiry, determined the RCMP gave the Americans false information about Arar.
O’Connor acknowledged that he did not know everything in Arar’s U.S. file, but he concluded that U.S. authorities were probably acting on the misguided RCMP tip when they grabbed him.
In a statement released by the U.S. Embassy last week, Wilkins said the decision to send Arar to Syria “was made by U.S. officials based on our own independent assessment of the threat to the United States.”
As he did then, he said on Monday that he won’t discuss the case further because Arar is pursuing a lawsuit against the U.S. government.
“I issued a statement Friday about that and I stand behind it, and that’s all I’m going to say on it,” he told reporters after a luncheon speech to the Rotary Club of Ottawa.
“There is a process about the watch list,” he continued. “People can apply to be removed. There is a procedure in place, I would answer in a general way, not specific to him, but there is certainly a process in place and one can apply to be removed.”Â
Then he returned to the lawsuit:
“As you know, there’s a trial pending in the United States, or litigation pending — it’s not a trial. It was dismissed and Mr. Arar chose to appeal it and that’s ongoing and we have no further comment on it.”
Wilkins, a former South Carolina legislator and Republican fundraiser, and a friend of U.S. presidents George Bush and George W. Bush, has been ambassador to Canada since June 2005.
There has been speculation that Washington resists admitting a mistake because it would strengthen Arar’s hand in the lawsuit and improve his chances of winning damages.
In Canada, the affair has cost RCMP Commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli his job. Zaccardelli resigned after giving a Commons committee conflicting evidence on what he knew about the case and when he knew it
This entry was posted on Monday, December 18th, 2006 at 6:31 PM and filed under Articles. Follow comments here with the RSS 2.0 feed. Skip to the end and leave a response. Trackbacks are closed.
