Maher Arar, the Ottawa software engineer tortured in Syria after being deported there in 2002 by the United States on suspicion of terrorist links, responded to renewed claims that connect him to terrorist activity.
Last week, an FBI agent testified before a Guantanamo Bay military hearing that terror suspect Omar Khadr said he had seen someone who “looked similar” to Arar, pictured, at an al-Qaeda training camp in Afghanistan. Arar denied the claim yesterday. “It was shocking,” he told Canadian media.
Arar was falsely accused of terrorism in 2002 and tortured in Syria. The Government of Canada ordered a commission of inquiry which publicly cleared Arar of any links to terrorism, and gave him a C$10.5 million settlement in January 2007.
