Canada's solicitor general acknowledged for the first time Wednesday that U.S. officials used Canadian-supplied information when they deported Maher Arar to Syria.

Solicitor General Wayne Easter held talks with U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft Wednesday in Washington.

Solicitor General Wayne Easter
Solicitor General Wayne Easter

Arar was stopped in New York in October 2002, while switching flights on his way back to Canada. A citizen of both Syria and Canada, Arar was briefly detained in the U.S. before being deported to Syria, where he was held for a year.

Easter said he and Ashcroft discussed the case during their meeting. When asked who supplied the information used against Arar, Easter said more than one source was involved.

"Our discussions indicate that this information didn't come from Canada alone," said Easter.

"The information comes from a number of agencies globally. Specifically as it relates to Canada, that information will come out as we go through the CPC review."

The CPC is the Commission for Public Complaints against the RCMP. It is looking into the RCMP's involvement in the Arar deportation.

Lorne Waldman, Arar's lawyer, questioned the reliability of the sources used by American officials.

"Did the information come from Syria, from other people who were tortured?" asked Waldman.