TORONTO -- The federal government has failed to justify the drastic step of sending a suspected terrorist back to Egypt given the high likelihood he would be tortured there, his lawyers argued yesterday.

In a court challenge to Ottawa's decision to deport Mahmoud Jaballah, 41, his lawyers said the government would be trampling on both his human rights and the fundamental principles of justice without any compelling reason to do so.

Much of the legal argument centred on a Supreme Court of Canada decision that people facing the risk of torture in their homelands should be deported only under "exceptional circumstances."

There is no indication those special circumstances exist, lawyer Barbara Jackman told the Federal Court. "We are not in a state of emergency," she said. "We are not in a time of war. There is no epidemic. There is no catastrophe."

While Ottawa concedes that Mr. Jaballah faces the risk of inhumane treatment or even execution in Egypt, a lawyer for the federal government said there are compelling reasons to deport him anyway.

Don MacIntosh told Judge Mackay that Mr. Jaballah was a member of the Egyptian terrorist group al-Jihad with ties to al-Qaeda.

Everyone in Canada has the right to be protected from "evil terrorist organizations" and "people like Mr. Jaballah," Mr. MacIntosh said. "The continued presence of Mr. Jaballah in Canada threatens the lives of Canadians and their allies."

Mr. Jaballah, who arrived in Canada in 1996, was first arrested on a national security certificate in 1999. In a highly unusual decision, a judge quashed the certificate eight months after its issue on the grounds it wasn't reasonable.

Mr. Jaballah was rearrested on a second certificate in August of 2001. He has been detained for three years in a Toronto jail without charge. In July, he won a ruling that allows him to challenge the second certificate, and his lawyers argued the deportation process should be stayed pending that review.

It's not known when Judge Mackay will rule on the deportation.

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