Here are some of the key events in the detention of Maher Arar, the 33-year-old Ottawa computer engineer who was deported to Syria by the U.S. on suspicion of being a terrorist.

Sept. 26, 2002

Arar is detained in New York by U.S. immigration officials. The Syrian-Canadian was returning from a vacation in Tunisia. He was travelling on a Canadian passport (he holds both Syrian and Canadian citizenship). The U.S. believed he was a member of al Qaeda, the Islamic terrorist group.

Oct. 7-8, 2002

Arar is deported to Syria, the land of his birth.

Oct. 10, 2002

Canada is informed by the U.S. that Arar has been deported.

Oct. 16, 2002

Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Graham said he has protested Arar's deportation.
Graham protests U.S. deportation of Canadian

Oct. 29-30, 2002

Canadians born in Iran, Iraq, Libya, Sudan or Syria are advised by Foreign Affairs to reconsider any travel plans to the U.S. after that country announces plans to photograph and fingerprint any visitor who was born in those five countries. Some Middle Eastern Canadians announce they will boycott the U.S.

Nov. 14, 2002

Canadian officials say Arar is an al Qaeda member who is has been jailed in Syria.
Missing Canadian citizen is al Qaeda: officials

Nov. 19, 2002

The U.S. said it deported Arar because he is an al Qaeda member. It is revealed the RCMP had been watching Arar for a year. Monia Mazigh, Arar's wife, meets with Foreign Affairs representatives. She rejects any claim her husband is a terrorist.
U.S. says deported Canadian belongs to al Qaeda

March 14, 2003

Amnesty International releases an update on Arar, saying he had not been charged or tried and was at risk of torture or other ill treatment.

July 31, 2003

A Parliamentary inquiry into Arar's arrest and deportation is called for by the Canadian Council on American-Islamic Relations.

Aug 7-8, 2003

Mazigh demands Canada recall its ambassador to Syria. Graham declines to do so.
Ottawa urged to help jailed Canadian in Syria

Sept. 25, 2003

Graham claims Syrian officials have said Arar won't be subjected to a military trial.

Mazigh asks MPs on Parliament's Foreign Affairs committee to keep fighting for her husband's release. Richard Proulx, an assistant commissioner of the RCMP, refuses to comment on the case before the committee.

Oct. 5, 2003

Arar suddenly released by Syria.

Oct. 6, 2003

Arar arrives in Montreal one year and 10 days after U.S. officials first detained him.
Cdn. freed from Syrian jail grateful to be home

Oct. 9, 2003

Then-solicitor general Wayne Easter rejects calls for a public inquiry, some of which come from his own party.

Oct. 23, 2003

The Commission for Public Complaints Against The RCMP wants the force to answer questions about Arar.

Oct. 24, 2003

Angry about anonymous statements from government officials painting Arar as a terrorist, NDP foreign affairs critic Alexa McDonough calls for a public inquiry.
NDP demands inquiry into Maher information leak

Nov. 4, 2003

Arar goes public with his story of torture at the hands of his Syrian jailers.
Arar calls detention 'beyond human imagination'

Nov. 8, 2003

Ottawa Citizen reporter Juliet O'Neill writes a story based on a leaked document that claims Arar had trained in al Qaeda camps in Afghanistan.

Nov. 25, 2003

Arar files suit against Syria and Jordan.

Dec. 21, 2003

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said the U.S. was tipped off about Arar by Canadian authorities.

Dec. 23, 2003

The Security and Intelligence Review Committee announces it will review CSIS's involvement in the Arar case.

Jan. 13, 2004

U.S. President George Bush tells Prime Minister Paul Martin that Canada will be informed in the future before the U.S. deports a Canadian citizen to a second country.

Jan. 16, 2004

Justice Minister Irwin Cotler withdraws from the Arar case, citing a potential conflict of interest.

Jan. 22, 2004

O'Neill's home and office are raided by the RCMP, sparking outrage among journalists and civil libertarians.

Jan. 23, 2004
Arar files suit against U.S. officials.
Arar suing Washington over deportation to Syria

Jan. 28, 2004

Public inquiry announced into Arar's case.
Public inquiry called into Maher Arar affair

Feb. 3, 2004

It is announced that Federal Fisheries Minister Geoff Regan will stand in for federal Justice Minister Irwin Cotler in the Maher Arar inquiry.
Fisheries Minister Regan to oversee Arar probe

Feb. 6, 2004

Ottawa issues its terms of reference for the Maher Arar inquiry, granting Justice Dennis O'Connor broad authority to probe the actions of Canadian officials allegedly involved with Arar's deportation and detention in a Syrian prison.
Ottawa lays out guidelines for Arar inquiry

Feb. 8, 2004

An Ipsos-Reid poll conducted for CTV and The Globe and Mail finds three-quarters of Canadians believe the United States was wrong to have deported Maher Arar to Syria
U.S. unjustified in deporting Arar, poll finds

March 10, 2004

Monia Mazigh, credited with helping to free her husband, Maher Arar, from a Syrian prison, announces she will run for the NDP in the federal election.
Arar's wife Monia Mazigh to seek NDP nomination

April 27, 2004

The Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP suspends its probe of the Maher Arar case pending the outcome of a federal inquiry into the controversial matter. RCMP review panel suspends Arar investigation

April 29, 2004

Maher Arar is officially granted standing at the inquiry Thursday, meaning he'll have the right to take part in the proceedings.
Arar granted standing at deportation inquiry

June 11, 2004

Maher Arar's lawyers contend that Canadian spies quietly visited Syria in late 2002 and got copies of confessions Maher Arar made under torture.
CSIS got Arar's 'confession' from Syria: lawyer

June 18, 2004

Syria, Jordan and the United States are asked by the Maher Arar inquiry to help determine what happened to the Ottawa man.
Arar inquiry asks for Syrian, U.S. co-operation

June 21, 2004

A federal inquiry begins hearing the case of Maher Arar. Ward Elcock, the recently retired director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, will be one of the first to testify.
Maher Arar inquiry gets underway in Ottawa