Canada not to deport alleged Laden member

Ottawa, May 12: A federal court prohibited the Canadian government from pursuing the deportation of a man it says is a terrorist member of Osama bin Laden's network until he can get a new hearing.

Mohamed Harkat, an Algerian refugee whom the court had earlier found to have lied about links to bin Laden and about assistance he provided to Islamic extremists, won a reprieve from government litigation until a less-secret review process is put in place.

Federal Court Judge Francois Lemieux ruled that when the Supreme Court struck down part of the government's anti-terror law in February because it was too secretive, it made Harkat entitled to a new review of the allegations against him.

Harkat says he could be tortured or killed if he is returned to Algeria, and Lemieux agreed that this fear was enough to stay the proceedings until he gets a new review.

''The applicant (Harkat) has satisfied me he would suffer irreparable harm if the stay is not granted,'' Lemieux wrote.

The Supreme Court decision said in February it was unconstitutional to try to deport terrorism suspects without letting them or a special advocate contest evidence against them. It gave the government a year to come up with a new process.

The government had argued that national security and relations with friendly nations who had shared intelligence could be jeopardized if intelligence were disclosed.

Harkat, who is not Canadian, will continue to live with his Canadian wife in their Ottawa home under strictly monitored conditions.

He is one of several alleged terrorists held in jail or in a form of house arrest in Canada, which has for years battled an impression, particularly in the United States, that it is soft on terror.

Reuters>