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(London) The lawyer for a Canadian man who says he was tortured in Syria after being detained in New York sharply criticized the U.S. ambassador to Britain on Tuesday for his comments on the case.

U.S. Ambassador Robert Tuttle said in a British Broadcasting Corp. radio interview last week that there was no evidence the United States had been involved in removing terror suspects to Syria, a process known as "extraordinary rendition."

The U.S. Embassy later issued a statement clarifying Tuttle's comments, saying he was aware there had been a media report of a rendition to Syria.

Lorne Waldman, a lawyer for Syrian-born Canadian Maher Arar, an Ottawa engineer, told the BBC on Tuesday it had been ridiculous for Tuttle to suggest he was unaware of Arar's case.

"We know of other cases of other individuals who have been rendered," Waldman said. "So this was part of a well-known, well-documented pattern."

The U.S. Embassy said it had nothing further to add to its earlier comments.

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The US embassy in London was forced to issue a correction yesterday to an interview given by the ambassador, Robert Tuttle, in which he claimed America would not fly suspected terrorists to Syria, which has one of the worst torture records in the Middle East. A statement acknowledged media reports of a suspect taken from the US to Syria...

...The embassy's statement is close to an admission of at least one flight to Syria as it would be unlikely to embarrass the ambassador by referring to a media report it considered inaccurate...

...US presidents tend to treat the post of ambassador to Britain more as a reward for political donors and allies than a job for diplomats, and Robert Tuttle fits this pattern. A Beverly Hills car dealer and major Republican party donor, he became ambassador this summer. He served in Ronald Reagan's White House and was ranked as a "pioneer" in George Bush's re-election campaign for raising more than £100,000 (£57,000).

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[ 27 December 2005: Message edited by: Contrarian ]