On August 14, 2008, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals agreed to an en banc rehearing of a motion for declaratory judgment against US government officials for the deportation to Syria of Canadian citizen Maher Arar. Arar's lawsuit had initially been dismissed after the court found he had failed to state a claim over which it had jurisdiction. US lawmakers had apologized to Arar during a joint hearing of the House Foreign Affairs Committee in October 2007. Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper also apologized to Arar on behalf of the Canadian government in January 2007.

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