The case of Mohamed Harkat, an Ottawa pizza delivery man accused of working for the al-Qaeda terrorist network, appears headed for the Supreme Court of Canada. A constitutional challenge launched by Mr. Harkat was quickly dismissed by the Federal Court of Appeal yesterday, setting the stage for his case to join a similar one to be heard by Canada's top court. Mr. Harkat's lawyer, Paul Copeland, was in the odd position yesterday of favouring a swift rejection of his own argument since only then could he move on to the high court. As a result, he urged the panel of judges to act quickly if unmoved by his contention that Mr. Harkat had been denied his right to fundamental justice. The three-member panel complied, issuing a decision within minutes of Mr. Copeland's submissions. Chief Justice John Richard said Mr. Copeland failed to reveal any "manifest errors" in the court's earlier decision to uphold the security certificate process as constitutional -- a decision that came in the case of accused terrorist Adil Charkaoui of Montreal. The Supreme Court announced last month that it will hear Mr. Charkaoui's appeal. Mr. Harkat's wife, Sophie, was in court for yesterday's hearing, along with filmmaker Alexandre Trudeau, the son of former prime minister Pierre Trudeau, who has become an important advocate for security certificate detainees. Mr. Harkat marked his 1,000th day in custody on Monday. He has spent most of that time in maximum security at the Ottawa Carleton Detention Centre. "This process is taking a long, long time," said Ms. Harkat after the hearing, "and we don't see an end to this." Earlier this year, Mr. Harkat was ordered deported to his native Algeria after Judge Eleanor Dawson upheld the security certificate issued against him by the federal government in December 2002.

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