OTTAWA - Security certificates used to detain suspected terrorists indefinitely without charge are constitutional, the Federal Court of Appeal ruled Friday.

A three-judge panel made the decision at an appeal hearing by Adil Charkaoui, a Moroccan-born man accused of being an al-Qaeda operative, who has been held for 20 months without charge and without full access to the evidence against him.

Charkaoui, 31, has lost three bids for bail.

He was arrested in May 2003 after the Canadian Security Intelligence Service accused the Montreal man of being one of Osama bin Laden's top lieutenants.

The security agency alleges that Charkaoui, a permanent Canadian resident, entered the country to lie low as a "sleeper" operative for al-Qaeda.

At least five other men are being held under the certificates, which have provoked fierce condemnation from domestic and international critics who say they violate constitutional and human rights.

Thousands of people across Canada planned to hold rallies Friday to protest the detentions.

Another security-certificate case was before a separate Federal Court on Friday.

It was hearing the case of Mohamed Harkat, 34, an Algerian refugee arrested in December 2002 after CSIS accused him of being an al-Qaeda "sleeper."

The security agency alleges that Harkat is an Islamic extremist who trained under bin Laden's top lieutenants in Afghanistan.

The families of both Harkat and Charkaoui say they are not terrorists and have no links to al-Qaeda.

Written by CBC News Online staff

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