Mr. Cotler, as I've stated previously and in my testimony today, Mr. Arar was a person of interest from the very beginning of this investigation. He continued to be a person of interest to the RCMP when he was detained in New York, while he was detained in Syria, in jail, and throughout the inquiry. He ceased to be a person of interest to us only at the conclusion of Justice O'Connor's report.
He was always a person of interest to us. Justice O'Connor says we legitimately had every right to label him as a person of interest and to investigate him. That is why I could not say anything about that. At the first opportunity, after the report came out, I publicly apologized for the part the RCMP may have had in the ordeal that Mr. Arar was subjected to.