Here is his summary of the redacted Congressional report:

(it) reveals, among other things, that (i) Deputy Attorney General Larry Thompson was responsible for refusing to transfer Arar to his home in Canada, without providing any reason for that decision; (ii) that DOJ and the government also refused to transfer Arar to Switzerland, the nation of origin of his trip (which would have been the norm if Canada were not chosen); and (iii) most importantly, that even after the INS determined that it was more likely than not that Arar would be tortured in Syria, he was transferred to that nation in an artificially and extremely expedited fashion.

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U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey said on Wednesday he had rejected a request from lawmakers that an outside special counsel investigate the case of [Maher Arar]

Mukasey said under questioning at a House of Representatives Judiciary Committee hearing that he did not believe that a special counsel was warranted "at this time."...

Three committee Democrats sent a letter on July 10 asking Mukasey to appoint an outside special counsel to investigate and prosecute any violations of federal criminal laws.

They said a special counsel would ensure the investigation is thorough, impartial and independent, and would show the U.S. government was willing to conduct a fair investigation into serious allegations of wrongdoing.

Two lawmakers who sought the outside investigation, including committee chairman Rep. John Conyers, a Democrat from Michigan, criticized Mukasey's decision.

Conyers said Mukasey had continued the "unfortunate tradition" of refusing to appoint a special counsel not only in the Arar case, but also for President George W. Bush's warrantless surveillance program and for the CIA's use of waterboarding for terrorism suspects.

Rep. William Delahunt, a Democrat from Massachusetts, cited testimony last month that U.S. officials may have sent Arar to Syria, rather than Canada, because they knew of the likelihood of torture.

"If that doesn't trigger need for a special prosecutor, I can't imagine what would," he said.

Mukasey said U.S. officials received assurances from Syria that Arar would not be tortured. "Sending him to Canada could have posed a threat to our country," Mukasey said, adding that sending him to Syria was "safer."

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In an exclusive interview with CBC News, Zaccardelli suggests U.S. authorities deliberately misled the Mounties about what they intended to do with the Syrian-born Canadian citizen who in 2002 was arrested by authorities in New York on his way home to Ottawa from a family holiday in Tunisia.

Recounting the progression of events and the RCMP's thinking at the time, Zaccardelli said: "We are led to believe that he is going to be released and he is coming to Canada."

The RCMP had made it clear Arar was simply a peripheral figure in a broader terrorism investigation, Zaccardelli added.

When U.S. authorities asked whether the RCMP could detain Arar if he was sent to Canada, Zaccardelli said the Mounties repeatedly said that, despite their suspicions, there was no solid evidence linking Arar to terrorism.

U.S. authorities then told the Mounties they would release Arar, said Zaccardelli, who is now a senior officer at Interpol headquarters in Lyon, France.

"We are waiting in Montreal for the plane to arrive with Mr. Arar getting off the plane," said Zaccardelli. "The plane arrives. Mr. Arar never gets off."

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Zaccardelli on Arar (from last night's The National):

http://www.cbc.ca/national/blog/video/crimejustice/zaccardelli_on_maher_arar_1.html

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CSIS took a number of steps to prevent us from getting access to certain information from American authorities that we actually needed on this investigation. They actually hindered us in a number of ways.

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So what Zaccardelli is basically saying is that he did not go public after Arar did not arrive on the plane with his concerns because he did not have enough information to do his job properly. And, rather than appear incompetent for not knowing what was going on, he was prepared to let Arar rot in jail.

In other words, Zaccardelli did not become incompetent until he made the decision not to appear so.

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Originally posted by vaudree:
So what Zaccardelli is basically saying is that he did not go public after Arar did not arrive on the plane with his concerns because he did not have enough information to do his job properly....

Why did CSIS keep information from the RCMP? Wasn't the fact that the RCMP were being denied information on a person whom they believed was sent to a less than friendly country reason enough for the RCMP to go public with their concerns. When Arar didn't arrive, Zaccardelli should have held a press conference - if not that day, the next.

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Mansbridge then asked if the problem was the Americans. Zaccardelli said "Absolutely. I'm absolutely convinced of that."

So Zac was covering for both the RCMP and CSIS where Arar was concerned.

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Originally posted by vaudree:
Why did CSIS keep information from the RCMP?

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Because the two organizations are supposed to maintain an American image of being independent law enforcement agencies at each others throats all the time. It's mean for public consumption.