Ensuing Interrogation

: The ensuing interrogation focused almost entirely on his attendance at an al-Qaida camp in Afghanistan 15 years ago, according to Hamilton Spectator. The questioning in French by a lone officer took place in an airport office. Speaking from Lyon, Mourad Benchellali told The Canadian Press he still doesn't understand why immigration agents treated him the way they did last week, but called the experience deeply unsettling. "I thought that maybe the American government knew I was in Canada and maybe exerted pressure to put me in jail," Benchellali said. "I thought they will send me to America, so I was very scared." On arrival at Toronto international airport the evening of Nov. 2, a Canada Border Services Agency official informed Benchellali that information on file about him required further examination. From time to time, someone else would come in and, in English, feed the officer more questions, Benchellali said. The French citizen has written a book about his experiences in the al-Qaida camp in 2001 and subsequent detention in Guantanamo Bay. The interrogation finally ended at about 5 a.m. on Nov. 3, with the officer informing him he was prohibited from entering Canada. "He said it very serious," Benchellali said. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.