Arar documents link former foreign minister to attempt to delay inquiry

[struggle4progress]

OTTAWA - Documents released by the Arar Commission suggest former foreign affairs minister Bill Graham asked for Washington's help in staving off a public inquiry into the case.

The documents are part of more than 2,000 pages of government e-mail, memos and handwritten notes released Thursday by the public inquiry into Maher Arar's case. They were written just weeks after Arar, a Canadian citizen, went public with his story of deportation and detention in a Syrian prison. He says he was tortured during his detention.

At the time, the federal government was resisting growing calls for a public inquiry into Arar's case and the previously secret memos indicate Graham hoped to find another way to deal with the pressure. <snip>

http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2005/04/22/arar050422.html