THE CANADIAN PRESS, 26 June 2009

HALIFAX, N.S. — ... Adil Charkaoui says he was recently asked to leave a flight from Fredericton to Montreal, but wasn't given an explanation for his removal.

Charkaoui, who is on a national speaking tour, says the flight was 45 minutes into a June 3 trip to Montreal when it returned and landed in Fredericton.

He says he was the only person asked to leave the plane.

Charkaoui is a landed immigrant from Morocco who was arrested in Montreal in 2003 under security-certificate legislation.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper was asked today about the incident at a news conference in Halifax.

He says he doesn't know much about it but Charkaoui is on a no-fly list in the United States and Canada has a security obligation to enforce it.

Charkaoui wouldn't identify the airline he was travelling on and insists he is not on a U.S. no-fly list.

He says he believes the flight was likely in U.S. airspace when the plane turned back for Canada.

In February, a Federal Court judge eased some of the conditions imposed on Charkaoui.

The judge said some of the restrictions had become disproportionate given the number of years that had passed since he first faced terrorist allegations.

The ruling means Charkaoui is now will able to go out unsupervised and is allowed access to the Internet on his home computer, although he is closely monitored.

Charkaoui, who denies allegations he is an al-Qaida sleeper agent, is calling for an inquiry into the June 3 incident.

The website for the Fredericton airport says Air Canada is the only airline that provides domestic services. A spokesman for the airline could not be reached for comment.