Algerian is terror spy, says Canada

AN ALGERIAN immigrant living in Canada who has been accused of being an al-Qaeda sleeper agent is fighting deportation to his homeland.

Mohamed Harkat, who has lived in Ontario since 1995, was arrested in December 2002 on suspicion of being a member of Osama bin Laden's terrorist network. He has denied the allegations.

Harkat, 42, has never been charged but spent 3-and-a-half years in an Ontario jail under controversial Canadian anti-terrorism legislation. The measure allows authorities to issue a national security certificate under which non-citizens can be held indefinitely without being charged and be deported, with the government allowed to keep any evidence secret.

Harkat has been under house arrest since his release on bail in 2006.

Lawyer Matthew Webber said Harkat was formally served deportation papers on Friday. In December, a federal judge ruled him a security threat who maintained ties to al-Qaeda.

Harkat's lawyers want the government to stay the deportation order so he can continue his legal challenge to the anti-terrorist security measures being used to deport him.

"He's not going anywhere or being deported until we finish appealing the matter," said Webber.

Harkat's lawyers are asking the Federal Court of Appeal to rule on whether the security certificate being used to deport him violates Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

The certificate process, a seldom-used tool for removing non-citizens suspected of terrorism or espionage, was revamped in 2007 after the Supreme Court of Canada declared it unconstitutional.