Nov. 2 (Bloomberg) -- A federal appeals court upheld the dismissal of a lawsuit by a Canadian man who sued the U.S. claiming he was stopped in a New York airport, forcibly transported to Syria and tortured over alleged ties to al-Qaeda.

Today’s ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals in New York is the second time the court has agreed with the trial judge who tossed out the lawsuit by Canadian Maher Arar. Arar, who was mistakenly identified as a terror suspect while at John F. Kennedy International Airport, said U.S. officials sent him in 2002 to his native Syria, where he was jailed and tortured. A Canadian inquiry later found he wasn’t linked to terrorism.

The full appeals court today upheld an earlier ruling by a three-judge panel, which previously affirmed the ruling by the trial judge. The appeals court said the civil lawsuit may not proceed unless Congress expressly authorizes such suits. Judges filed four dissents along with the majority opinion.

The lawsuit, which sought unspecified money damages, challenged “extraordinary rendition,” a process by which federal authorities have, without legal proceedings in U.S. courts, allegedly sent suspected terrorists to be held and tortured in other countries. The trial judge in Brooklyn, New York, rejected the case.

‘Executive, Congress’

“It is for the executive in the first instance to decide how to implement extraordinary rendition, and for the elected members of Congress -- and not for us as judges -- to decide whether an individual may seek compensation from government officers and employees directly, or from the government, for a constitutional violation,” the court said. “Administrations past and present have reserved the right to employ rendition.”

The U.S. Justice Department has said that Arar was legally deported to Syria and that the government received assurances from Syria that he wouldn’t be tortured.

Arar won support from U.S. and Canadian scholars, as well as former federal judges and legal advocacy groups, in so-called friend-of-the-court briefs filed with the appeals court.

The case is Arar v. Ashcroft, 06-04216, 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals (Manhattan).

To contact the reporter on this story: David Glovin in U.S. District Court in New York at 9245 or dglovin@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: November 2, 2009 11:50 EST