Powell tries to soothe tensions

OTTAWA – Secretary of State Colin Powell sought on Thursday to assuage sore feelings to the north, saying stricter security measures at U.S. borders “are not directed at Canada.”

Powell paid a four-hour visit to Ottawa to meet with Foreign Minister Bill Graham and other Canadian officials. The session was described as a general consultation about Iraq and other matters ahead of the NATO summit next week in Prague.

But Powell also had to deal with growing concerns in Canada about treatment by its powerful neighbor. Officials here were so unhappy over the way the United States handled two Canadian citizens at border crossings that they issued a special travel advisory.

Powell called the case of Michel Jalbert, 32, of Quebec, “an unfortunate incident,” and said U.S. immigration officials are expediting his case. He said Canadian citizens who frequently traverse the border for gasoline or other ordinary errands should not worry that they will receive the same treatment.

“I don’t expect it to be a problem in the future, nor a pattern,” Powell said.

Jalbert was arrested Oct. 11 when he journeyed into Maine to buy gas at a station a few yards from the border. An American policeman spotted a shotgun in Jalbert’s vehicle, and a background check found he had been convicted 13 years ago of vandalism and possessing stolen property.

Jalbert was arrested and charged with entering the United States illegally. If convicted, he could face six months in jail. He was released Thursday and permitted to return home until his trial.

The other Canadian detained at the border was Maher Arar of Montreal, who holds dual citizenship with Syria. Arar was detained Sept. 26 while switching planes at John F. Kennedy airport in New York while returning home from Tunisia. He was deported to Syria.

The travel advisory was lifted after the United States promised Canadian citizens would not be singled out for special scrutiny. Powell offered further assurances, saying U.S. and Canadian officials would work together to resolve the cases of the two affected Canadians.

“We’re doing everything we can to respect Canadian citizenship,” Powell said. “I don’t expect it to be a problem in the future.”

U.S. officials made much of the border security arrangements it struck with Canada in the months following the Sept. 11 attacks. But Canada now is a critic of the U.S. National Security Entry Exit Registration System, which authorizes taking fingerprints and photographs of people born or holding citizenship in any of five countries the United States says sponsor terrorism: Iran, Iraq, Libya, Sudan and Syria.

Canadian officials said the policy is discriminatory. At the height of Canada’s pique, Graham issued a travel advisory warning people from those five countries to avoid going into the United States.

Powell and Graham also discussed Iraq and international efforts to ensure that Saddam Hussein complies with U.N. weapons inspections. Powell said Iraq’s reaction to enforcement of no-fly zones over part of its territory would be looked at “with great seriousness” and that Iraq must understand the threat of military action is real.

“The United States has demonstrated considerable patience over the last two months,” Powell said. “That patience will continue. But at the same time, there should be absolutely no confusion or misunderstanding.”