The American ambassador to Canada says Maher Arar is still considered a threat to the United States, angering Arar's Canadian lawyer.

Despite the findings of a Canadian inquiry that concluded Arar was deported to Syria based on erroneous information provided to the U.S. from the RCMP, David Wilkins said the Syrian-born Canadian will remain on a security watch list.

"Mr. Arar's original removal from the United States in 2002 was based on information from a variety of sources, as is his current watch list status," Wilkins said in a statement.

Wilkins noted Friday that Justice Dennis O'Connor, the head of the Arar inquiry, acknowledged he did not know about everything in Arar's American file.

But Arar's lawyer, Lorne Waldman, claimed the U.S. is simply trying to cover up their own mistakes in the case.

"The American regime is doing what it's been doing for a long time, which is hiding behind double-speak to try and cover up some of the rather horrific deeds that they've done," he told CTV News.

The ambassador said the decision to remove Arar from the United States in 2002 was made by American officials based on their own assessment.

"Due to a lawsuit in the United States initiated by Mr. Arar which was dismissed at the trial level and is now on appeal, I cannot go into any further detail," Wilkins concluded in his statement.

Wilkins' statement was the first official submission from American officials that Washington is suspicious of Arar, based on information culled from their own sources.

As for what those sources are -- and what they might detail -- U.S. officials either refuse to say or don't know.

An inquiry by O'Connor cleared Arar and made recommendations to prevent similar errors that led to Arar's deportation and torture.

MacKay comments

Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay repeated today that Arar's name has been removed from the Canadian security watch list and that Arar faces no travel restrictions in this country.

"He has been declared innocent. We certainly have relayed that finding and the (O'Connor) report itself and the decision we've taken to remove Mr. Arar from the watch list to the Americans," he told CTV's Ottawa bureau chief Robert Fife in an interview.

"They're in possession of all that information; they have to make an informed decision themselves."

MacKay said Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day has spoken to his American counterpart, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, on the Arar issue.

MacKay added that similar to the court case pending in the U.S., "we have a court case here that impacts on our ability to interact with Mr. Arar.

"But we're determined to resolve, in a fair-minded way, that we'll respect Mr. Arar's rights, of course also keeping in mind the security environment we're working in. ..."

Layton puts pressure on PM

Earlier Friday, NDP Leader Jack Layton urged the Conservative government to make a direct appeal to U.S. officials to remove Arar's name from the list.

"To this day the United States government maintains a terror watch list and Maher Arar's name is on it," said Layton.

"This is simply not right and there is no evidence that Mr. Arar's name should be on such a list, we've held a full inquiry here in Canada."

Layton said the prime minister must do everything in his power to address the situation.

Layton called on the Conservatives to do two things:

The prime minister must make a direct appeal to the president of the United States to have Mr. Arar removed from the U.S. no fly list; and

The government must also make an official apology to Arar and his family.

"We have not yet seen the prime minister take real action to hold those responsible for the deportation of Mr. Arar to account," said Layton, referring to the resignation of RCMP Commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli.

Zaccardelli stepped down from his position after contradicting himself on what he knew -- and when he knew -- about Arar's deportation by U.S. authorities.

Layton criticized the government for holding out on an apology until a settlement was reached. He also criticized CSIS for not apologizing.

"The apology should not be some kind of legal negotiation, it should be unconditional and a matter of course," said Layton.

While in Syria, Arar was tortured into a false confession that he was involved with al Qaeda.

Last week, Day said he didn't know whether Arar was still on the watch list.

The U.S. State Department said whatever evidence American authorities have against Arar, it didn't come from the department.

"The terror watch list is managed here by the U.S. government. There's a lot of different inputs to it," department spokesperson McCormack said in response to questions at the department's daily briefing.

"I can tell you, it's not a State Department input that has resulted in his still being on the list."

Meanwhile, the New York-based Center for Constitutional Rights, a non-profit group dedicated to protecting and advancing the rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, came to Arar's defence on Friday.

"That the United States would have the gall to keep Maher on a watch list, implying that he poses a threat to this country, is outrageous although not surprising since this administration is unwilling to admit its mistakes and still tries to conceal them,'' said the group's attorney, Maria LaHood.

"The real threat to the U.S. is our government's utter disregard for the rule of law and for the truth, which Maher has had the courage to stand up and expose."

With a report by CTV's Craig Oliver and files from The Canadian Press