Friends and family say a Canadian who left home months ago to visit relatives in Iraq has not been heard from for three weeks. He is now feared detained in neighbouring Syria.

Muayyed Nureddin, who had gone to visit family in Kirkuk at the end of September, planned to return to Toronto via Syria. But his friend Tawfik Kettanah claims Nureddin was instead detained by Syrian authorities for questioning.

Kettanah told CTV's Toronto affiliate CFTO News, he fears the worst.

"They can detain you for no good reason, they torture you for as long as they want and if they want to release you they release you -- if not -- they don't. I hope and I wish he'll be back, but if he was not a Canadian citizen -- (I doubt I'd) see him again."

On Friday, a spokesperson for the Department of Foreign Affairs said his agency received information concerning Nureddin's "possible presence in Syria" on Dec. 18. It has waiting for a response from Syrian officials since then.

If and when foreign affairs determines Nureddin is in custody in Syria it will "immediately seek consular access," Reynald Doiron said.

In light of the recent case of Maher Arar -- who recently returned to Canada after spending ten months in a Syrian jail -- Kettanah said Ottawa's help can't come quickly enough.

"My hope is that the Canadian government will do something about this -- because he's Canadian -- he has nothing to do with Syria."

Nureddin, a geologist who came to Canada in 1994, was the principal of the Salaheddin Islamic School for three years before recently leaving the job.

One month before September 11th, 2001, the principal of another affiliated school -- Mahmoud Jaballah -- was arrested. He is currently being detained on a national security certificate.