AFTER four years of fighting his government for their role in a year of torture in Syria, Canadian Maher Arar received the apology he wants from his Prime Minister, Hadeel Al-Shalchi reports Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper says his government is sorry for helping the United States of America deport a Canadian-Arab to Syria where he was tortured for a year. Maher Arar will also receive a $10.5 million Cdn in compensation. "On behalf of the government of Canada, I wish to apologise to you...and your family for any role Canadian officials may have played in the terrible ordeal that all of you experienced in 2002 and 2003," Harper said. "I sincerely hope that these words and actions will assist you and your family in your efforts to begin a new and hopeful chapter in your lives," he said. Arar was traveling home in 2002 to Ottawa on a Canadian passport after a vacation in Tunisia, when he was detained at Kennedy airport in New York. He was swiftly deported to Syria for interrogation because the US says it had enough evidence to believe Arar was linked to Al-Qaeda. He was not told where he was going or why. Arar spent a year in a Syrian jail, and upon his return spoke of being whipped with electrical cables, intensive interrogation and living in squalid isolation. He was also forced to sign a false confession. Arar was only released after mounting public pressure in Canada led by his wife, Professor Monia Mazigh. A public inquiry found that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP ) had asked the US to place Arar on a watch list as an "Islamic extremist individual". They say it's because Arar once met with a man who is under surveillance in Ottawa. Arar says they only met to talk about buying computer parts. The report uncovered many errors the RCMP committed by leaking inaccurate information to the US that "very likely" led the US to deport Arar. Arar says the apology means "the world to him". "The struggle to clear my name has been long and hard," he said at a press conference in Ottawa. "I feel now I can put more time into being a good father, and to being a good husband and rebuilding my life." He said he's also grateful to the previous federal Liberal government for calling the inquiry into his case, and to the current Conservative government for implementing the recommendations of the inquiry. "This struggle has taught me how important it is to stand up for human rights," he said. "I feel proud as a Canadian and I feel proud of what we've been able to achieve." Even though the inquiry found that Arar had no links to terrorism at all, the US refuses to take Arar off their security watch list. The prime minister said the government will continue to press the US to remove Arar from the watch list. David Wilkins, the American ambassador to Canada, says his country still feels Arar has dangerous contacts and associations. He says Canada would be "presumptious" to think they could have him removed from their list since an American assessment says he should stay on it. Arar says he's not sure how he will spend his compensation money, but will use it towards Canadian society. He says he doesn't want anyone to ever find themselvs in the same situation as he did.
