By James Stairs Jan 27, 2007, 0:19 GMT
Montreal - Maher Arar, the Canadian software engineer who was wrongfully accused of terrorism and deported to Syria where he was tortured, has been awarded 12.5 million Canadian dollars (10.6 million US dollars), the Canadian government said Friday.
The payment is compensation for the Canadian government's role in the scandal, but fell short of the 37 million Canadian dollars sought by Arar in legal suits.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper publicly apologized to Arar and his family for his ordeal at a press conference announcing the settlement in Ottawa, and read from a letter he sent to Arar.
'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,' Harper said.
Arar thanked the Canadian government for the gesture, and said it would help rebuild his life after his five-year ordeal.
'I cannot begin to tell you how important this day is for me,' he told reporters at a separate news conference. 'My suffering and the suffering of my family did not end when I was released. The struggle to clear my name and for justice has been long and hard.'
Arar said he now felt he could 'devote more time to being a good father and to being a good husband and to rebuilding my life.'
While Harper did not mention the specific details of the settlement, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reported that Arar would be paid 2 million Canadian dollars for legal costs and 10 million Canadian dollars in damages.
'We cannot go back and fix the injustices that occurred to Mr. Arar,' Harper said. 'However we can make changes to lessen the likelihood that something like this will ever happen again.'
The Arar affair has dominated headlines in Canada for five years.
The Syrian-born Canadian citizen, then living in Ottawa, was detained by American officials, acting on a tip from Canadian police, at New York's JFK airport during a stopover on a flight from Tunisia to Montreal in September 2002.
Claiming that he had links to al-Qaeda, American officials deported Arar to Damascus, Syria, where he was imprisoned.
In August of 2003, the affair caused outrage in Canada when the London-based Syrian Human Rights Committee reported that Arar was being tortured during his detention.
Reacting to the public outcry, former prime minister Jean Chretien personally intervened with Syria to help obtain Arar's release in 2003. On his return home, Arar's family called for a public inquiry to clear his name, which was eventually launched in June 2004.
Over two years, the Arar inquiry heard testimony from top security officials that revealed a tangled web of errors, miscommunication and elaborate attempts to cover up the incident.
Justice Dennis O'Connor's first report admonished the Royal Canadian Mounted Police for the errors and cleared Arar of any wrongdoing.
He also reprimanded Canadian officials for slandering Arar with a whisper campaign and demanded that the government recognize Arar's suffering.
In December, Canada's top police official, RCMP commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli, was forced to resign over the scandal. The Canadian parliament has also apologized to Arar.
But Arar's fight to clear his name is not over. He remains on the US terrorism watch list and is unable to fly through the US for fear of being arrested.
The Canadian government, Harper said Friday, has taken up this issue both with the US and Syrian governments, formally objecting to the treatment of Arar.
Arar is currently appealing a lawsuit against the US government that was dismissed last year. He is seeking an undisclosed amount.
Arar thanked the Canadian public for supporting him as he fought to clear his name.
'Without the support of the Canadian people, I may never have come home and I would not have had the strength to push for justice. I am very proud to be a Canadian and am very proud of what we have been able to achieve collectively,' he said.
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