In a report released Thursday, a fact-finder appointed by the Arar Commission concludes that Ottawa engineer Maher Arar was tortured while detained in Syrian custody three years ago.

"I conclude that the treatment of Mr. Arar in Far Falestin (Palestine branch of the Syrian military intelligence) constituted torture as understood in international law. ... in addition, the techniques of humiliation and the creation of intense fear were forms of psychological torture," McGill University Law Professor Stephen Toope writes in the 25-page report released Thursday.

Toope's mandate was to investigate Arar's treatment during his detention in Syria and Jordan and to report on the effects upon Arar and his family.

Toope conducted nearly 10 hours of interviews with Arar, as well as interviews with other Syrian-Canadians who say they were tortured by Syrian interrogators, such as Ottawa engineer Abdullah Almalki, Toronto truck driver Ahmad Abou El-Maati, and Toronto-area geologist Muayyed Nureddin.

"When I compare information available from public sources with the cross-referenced testimony of Messrs. Almalki, El-Maati, and Nureddin, I conclude that the stories they tell are credible," Toope writes.

"I believe that they suffered severe physical and psychological trauma while in detention in Syria. Mr. Almalki was especially badly treated, and for an extended period. When I compare all of this information to the story told to me by Mr. Arar, I am convinced that his description of his treatment in Syria is accurate."

"The fact-finder's report, with its detailed description of acts of torture makes for difficult reading but it is extremely important that it is now part of the record of this inquiry" the commission's lead counsel Paul Cavalluzzo said in a written statement.

U.S. authorities arrested Arar, a Canadian citizen of Syrian birth, in September 2002, on suspicion of terrorist activity.

Rather than letting him return to Canada after 13 days in detention, he was spirited on a specially chartered jet to Jordan, and from there to Damascus where he faced further interrogation.

He denies the accusations of having links to al Qaeda and says he was tortured by the Syrians into false confessions.

The RCMP, which previously had him under surveillance but never found any hard evidence against him, has admitted sharing information about the case with American officials.

But both the Mounties and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service say they played no role in the U.S. decision to deport Arar to Syria.

There have been nagging questions, however, about whether they collaborated with Syrian authorities once he was in Damascus.

Questions have also arisen about the treatment of other Arab-Canadians, including Almalki and El-Maati.

Both were targeted in the same RCMP investigation as Arar, and both argue that they were detained and tortured when they travelled to Syria on personal business.

The inquiry, headed by Justice Dennis O'Connor, is examining the role of Canadian officials in the affair.

The inquiry concluded the bulk of its public hearings and submissions mid-September.

Meanwhile, the public report will be delayed until next March, largely because of haggling over how much of the evidence should stay secret on national security grounds.

Earlier, Cavalluzzo indicated that he was hopeful the national security claims can be resolved without going to Federal Court, which would be the government's last resort if it disagrees with O'Connor about how much evidence to make public.