Canada to formally protest to US over deported man

OTTAWA, Oct 6 (Reuters) Canada will formally protest to the United States over the case of a Canadian man deported to Syria by US agents, Prime Minister Stephen Harper told US President George W Bush today.

Software engineer Maher Arar was arrested in New York in September 2002 and was sent to Syria, where he says he was repeatedly tortured. He was released a year later.

An official inquiry into the affair put much of the blame on Canadian police, who wrongly told US border agents that Arar was an Islamic extremist. But inquiry head Dennis O'Connor also urged Ottawa to formally protest to both Syria and the United States over the way they had treated Arar.

''The prime minister expressed concerns relating to the case of Maher Arar in the wake of the recent report of the O'Connor report and (said) that we would be launching an official protest,'' said Harper spokesman Dimitri Soudas.

A spokeswoman for Harper, speaking separately, said the protest would be delivered shortly. Harper called Bush to discuss a number of topics, including Arar, officials said.

Harper's right-wing Conservatives, who won the Jan 23 election, campaigned on a promise to repair relations with the United States.

Relations had become strained under the previous Liberal government.

Bush is unpopular with many Canadians and the protest may help deflect opposition complaints that Harper is too close to the US president.

REUTERS DKB RAI2355