When it comes to obtaining information for the Canadian government, CSIS isn't above using torture, defence lawyers for Mohamed Harkat charged yesterday. A senior Mideast analyst for the spy agency, identified only as P.G., said under cross-examination that he had not been told, nor had he asked other national security agents, whether information he was given for reports was obtained through torture. When pressed on his knowledge of secret CIA detention centres used to detain al-Qaida suspects, or human-rights violations detailed in reports by organizations such as Amnesty International and the UN, P.G. said he had read little or none of the documents. It was enough for Harkat's defence lawyer, Paul Copeland, to suggest CSIS is unconcerned with how it gets its information, even if it means torturing suspects. "I would say that is not true," P.G. responded.

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