Abdullah Almalki - Arrest in Syria

Arrest in Syria

On May 3, 2002, Almalki arrived in Syria for the first time since he was a child, to visit his ill grandmother. Upon his arrival he was arrested on suspicion of terrorist connections. His arrest was based on information sent to the Syrians by the Canadian government.

During the time Almalki was in a Syrian jail, he was not asked anything related to Syrian interests. Most questions were about his life in Canada. In an interview with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation shortly after Arar's release from Syria, Arar described encountering Almalki in prison, weak, emaciated and suffering from the effects of torture. Almalki gave up the name of an Ottawa colleague named Arward Al-Bousha to end the torture, and al-Bousha was subsequently arrested, interrogated and gave up the name of Maher Arar.

Almalki was released on $125 bail in March 2004 and the Syrian State Supreme Security Court acquitted him of all charges in July 2004. Almalki returned to Canada after the acquittal.

Almalki's case was taken up by many organizations in Canada, including Amnesty International. The Canadian government convened an inquiry into the role Canadian authorities may have had in his case. The inquiry also includes the role of Canadian officials into the cases of Ahmad Abouz-zElmaati and Muayyed Nureddin. The Canadian government inquiry into the Arar affair indicated that the Canadian government had sent questions to Syrian military intelligence for use in his interrogation.

According to historian Andy Worthington, author of The Guantanamo Files, Almalki described three of his fellow captives in Syria's Palestinian Branch military prison: Omar Ghramesh, Abu Abdul Halim Dalak and a Syrian teenager who was captured during the same raid where Abu Zubaydah was captured, who Worthington concluded was Noor al-Deen.

On June 18, 2009, the Canadian House of Parliament voted in favour of an official apology and compensation to Almalki, el-Maati and Nureddin.