Letter to the Syrian Secret Police to obtain the names of the Americans who brought Mr. Maher Arar to Syria

Victoria BC Canada

20 October 2006

Maj. Gen. Assef Shawkat
Shu'bat al-Mukhabarat al-'Askariyya
Syrian Military Intelligence
Ministry of Defence
Mezzeh P.O. Box 4211 Damascus, Syria
Fax. (963) 11-6620553

Dear Sir:

I am a Canadian Nurse with an interest in the USA component of the deportation of a Canadian, Mr. Maher Arar, to Syria around October 2002. The Americans deported this individual after he landed in JFK Airport in New York. He was transferred to Syria via Jordan by the US. Mr. Arar spent about eight hours in Jordan before being moved to Syria. Are you able to give me the names of the American’s involved with Mr. Arar’s transfer to Syria?

The US claimed that Arar was an associate of

Abdullah Almalki, a Syrian-born Ottawa man whom they suspected of having links to the al-Qaeda terror organization, and they therefore suspected Arar of being an al-Qaeda member himself.

His deportation

to Syria onOctober 7 or 8 2002 is believed to be part of the unofficial US policy of extraordinary rendition whereby terrorism suspects are sent to certain countries.

I am interested in obtaining the names of the Americans involved in the transfer of Mr. Maher Arar via Jordan to Syria because I wish to facilitate changes to the US policy of extraordinary rendition. Any information surrounding these events would be appreciated.

Thank you for any help you can give me.

Sincerely


Ken Agar-Newman