Canada set to apologise to man wrongly deported

OTTAWA - Canada's Parliament said on Wednesday that it should apologise to a Canadian citizen for Ottawa's role in his wrongful deportation by the United States to what he describes as a hell-hole prison in Syria.

Members of the House of Commons unanimously agreed on Wednesday to a surprise motion by the opposition Bloc Quebecois that "apologies should be presented to Maher Arar regarding the treatment he has been subjected to."

An official inquiry concluded on Monday that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police had wrongly identified Arar as an Islamic extremist and passed this information on to US the House that the government had removed Arar and his family from Canada's list of suspected terrorists so as to ease his travel.

The RCMP has not responded yet to the report, but Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day said in response to a Bloc question that it would be a good idea for the House public safety committee to summon RCMP Commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli to testify.

- REUTERS