Former RCMP Commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli says the U.S. government, not Canada's national police force, is to blame for Maher Arar's deportation to Syria.

RCMP Commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli gestures during a news conference in Ottawa Dec. 7, 2006, a day after handing in his resignation amid controversy over conflicting statements he made about the Maher Arar affair. (Fred Chartrand/Canadian Press)

In an exclusive interview with CBC News, Zaccardelli suggests U.S. authorities deliberately misled the Mounties about what they intended to do with the Syrian-born Canadian citizen who in 2002 was arrested by authorities in New York on his way home to Ottawa from a family holiday in Tunisia.

Recounting the progression of events and the RCMP's thinking at the time, Zaccardelli said: "We are led to believe that he is going to be released and he is coming to Canada."

The RCMP had made it clear Arar was simply a peripheral figure in a broader terrorism investigation, Zaccardelli added.

When U.S. authorities asked whether the RCMP could detain Arar if he was sent to Canada, Zaccardelli said the Mounties repeatedly said that, despite their suspicions, there was no solid evidence linking Arar to terrorism.

U.S. authorities then told the Mounties they would release Arar, said Zaccardelli, who is now a senior officer at Interpol headquarters in Lyon, France.

"We are waiting in Montreal for the plane to arrive with Mr. Arar getting off the plane," said Zaccardelli. "The plane arrives. Mr. Arar never gets off."

Arar was later deported to Syria on suspicion of ties to al-Qaeda and tortured by interrogators there. He has since been awarded $10 million by the Canadian government as compensation for the ordeal.

Zaccardelli's claims contradict inquiry findings

Zaccardelli's comments stand in contrast to the findings of a $15-million inquiry into Arar's deportation that concluded the decision to deport him to Syria was based on false information provided to U.S. authorities by the RCMP.

Maher Arar was awarded $10 million in compensation by the Canadian government for his torture at the hands of Syrian interrogators. (Fred Chartrand/Canadian Press)

In his inquiry, Justice Dennis O'Connor discovered the RCMP told U.S. intelligence officials Arar, a telecommunications engineer, and his wife, Monia Mazigh, were Islamist extremists with links to al-Qaeda.

O'Connor concluded in September 2006 that misleading information provided by the RCMP "very likely" paved the way for U.S. officials to send Arar to Syria, where Syrian interrogators could use torture techniques that were illegal in the U.S.

O'Connor also concluded that Arar had no links to terrorist organizations or militants.

Zaccardelli, who resigned soon after the inquiry conclusions were made public, said the mistakes made by the Mounties played no part in the Americans' decision. His interview, conducted by the CBC's Peter Mansbridge in Lyon, France, airs at 9 p.m. ET Wednesday on The National.

The administration of U.S. President George W. Bush was determined to play hardball in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and had begun treating even allied foreign intelligence agencies with suspicion, according to Zaccardelli.

He said the decision to deport Arar was clearly a political decision from senior officials in Washington, not authorities at the CIA or FBI.

"In effect, the Americans threw away the rule book on how to co-operate and work with their allies and their closest friends," Zaccardelli said without naming individuals.

He had harsh words for Canada's own security agencies nonetheless, condemning his colleagues at the Canadian Security Intelligence Service for trying to "keep us from being involved in some of that national security work."

Zaccardelli accused the spy agency of taking several steps to prevent the RCMP from getting access to information from U.S. authorities on the Arar investigation.

"When CSIS goes to an American agency and says, 'Don't share that information with the RCMP; you should be sharing that with us,' that's detrimental to the interests of Canada," he said.