Syria is refusing a request from the Maher Arar inquiry for help in unraveling the circumstances of the Ottawa man's arrest and deportation.

Syria says it has no overall agreement with Canada with respect to legal co-operation, according to Paul Cavalluzzo, commission counsel for the inquiry.

Kimberly Phillips, a Foreign Affairs spokeswoman, said it was unclear whether Syria's move was a requirement under that country's laws, or a policy decision. But she added: "The absence of a treaty on legal co-operation should not preclude co-operation between Canada and Syria."

Marlys Edwardh, one of Arar's lawyers, said while Syria's co-operation would have been useful, the decision was "not surprising in light of the allegations and the record of the government of Syria.''

Arar, a Syrian-born Canadian citizen, was detained in New York on suspicions of terrorism in September 2002. Though he was travelling on a Canadian passport, U.S. authorities deported him to Syria.

Arar says he was beaten and tortured during his 10 months in jail, and forced to give a false confession about alleged links to al Qaeda. He was released without explanation and returned to Canada last fall.

The inquiry had asked Syria, Jordan and the U.S. to help the commission piece together details of the case.

Cavalluzzo says the inquiry will work on its own to corroborate statements made about Arar by Syrian officials.

"We'll have to do that through other means, and we will," he said.

Also Monday, Arar's lawyers asked commission head Justice Dennis O'Connor to force Ottawa to disclose classified documents relating to his deportation.

The lawyers want the federal government has documents stemming from Arar's torture sessions and his coerced confessions along with documents that involve interviews with U.S. border guards.

They argue that standard national-security secrecy clauses no longer hold because some of the details have been reported by the media because of leaks.

But lawyers representing the federal government say the documents cannot be released because they could jeopardize ongoing investigations.

"(Any) perceptions of a relative weakening in Canada's ability to ensure protection of information could create a lessening of sensitive information and/or a downgrading," said a rebuttal by Attorney General's office, released this weekend.

"Seemingly innocuous information... in the hands of an informed reader, can disclose more about an investigation than would otherwise be obvious."

The Arar inquiry entered its third week Monday. Only contextual evidence has so far been heard.