Key CSIS official denies spy service wanted Maher Arar to stay in Syria

[struggle4progress]

JIM BROWN

OTTAWA (CP) - The No. 2 man at Canada's spy service is vigorously denying claims the agency wanted Maher Arar to remain in Syria rather than be freed from prison and return home.

"I can say categorically that this was never the position of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service," Jack Hooper, deputy director of CSIS, told a public inquiry Thursday.

The assertion was greeted with skepticism by Paul Cavalluzzo, chief counsel to the inquiry, who challenged Hooper at virtually every turn. <snip>

He wondered why CSIS never made any positive arguments for the repatriation of Arar. Hooper replied that wasn't his job. <snip>

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