The Chinese government has given assurances that a Canadian citizen held on suspicion of terrorism won't face the death penalty, accordiing to Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay.

Huseyin Celil, 37, was arrested in March in Uzbekistan, and then extradited to China three months later to face charges he was originally arrested for in the early 1990s.

"We've already received a guarantee that [China] would not pursue the death penalty," MacKay said Monday.

"So already we've made incremental progress in protecting this individual. And we're going to continue to take steps to try to gain consular access for him."

However, MacKay's spokesman said later that China had given no such assurance to Canada directly, despite a recent meeting betwen Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Chinese President Hu Jintao.

"Canada considered China's assurance in September to the Uzbecks to be an international obligation and expects it to keep its obligations," said Dan Dugas. "China assured Uzbekistan when it asked for him to be turned over that it would not execute him."

In 1994, Celil was arrested in China on charges of establishing a political party for the country's minority Muslim Uyghurs. Chinese officials also alleged he helped assassinate a political leader in Kyrgyzstan, an accusation Celil's family and lawyer have denied.

Escaped from prison

He escaped prison and later applied for refugee status in 2001 in Turkey, eventually becoming a Canadian citizen and settling in Burlington, Ont.

Stephen Harper said last week in advance of his meeting with Hu that he would raise the issue of human rights and Celil's case, leading to a brief diplomatic row and concerns the meeting would be scrapped.

Harper said after the 15-minute meeting with Hu that the matter had been discussed but not in any detail.

The details of Celil's trial and sentence have been shrouded in secrecy, with reports he was tried in August.

His lawyer, Chris MacLeod, said Monday he understood that Celil had been given a 15-year sentence and would not face execution, but he welcomed MacKay's comments.

"I think we take our small victories where we find them," MacLeod said.

MacLeod has yet to meet his client, who authorities in Beijing have said is a Chinese citizen.

Layton sees parallels with Arar case

NDP Leader Jack Layton drew parallels Monday between Celil and Maher Arar, the Canadian citizen taken from the U.S. and  detained and tortured in Syria.

"I think what all Canadians would like to see is the release of [Celil]," Layton said.

"Learning that he's not going to be put to death when we don't even know what the charges have been is, I suppose, comforting.

"But is he meeting the same fate as Maher Arar right now?"

Celil has seven children — four in Ontario and three who live in China. Friends have claimed he was in Uzbekistan in March to try to apply to get his three children out of China.

with files from the Canadian Press