OTTAWA - A man who has been detained for three years on suspicion of being an Al Qaeda sleeper agent was denied bail today. Mohamed Harkat was arrested at his Ottawa apartment in December 2002 on a security certificate issued by the federal government. Harkat's lawyer, Matthew Webber, said his client was "quite upset" with the decision by Federal Court Justice Francois Lemieux. A CSIS official testified in November that Harkat, who has never been charged, would be a threat to national security if he were released. In March, a Federal Court justice upheld the security certificate on which he has been held, paving the way for Harkat's deportation to his native Algeria.That decision was based extensively on confidential information and alleged evidence that has never been released to Harkat or his lawyers.

He's appealing to the Supreme Court and was seeking bail pending the outcome of that appeal.

Much of Harkat's first year in jail was spent in segregation in a three-by-two-metre cell.

A psychiatrist testified in October that being held in jail on secret evidence and without charge for such a long time had taken a toll on Harkat's health and that he was suffering from depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.

But Lemieux said the illnesses were not necessarily caused by being locked up.

"A fair reading of his evidence suggests that the cause of those illnesses is not attributable to incarceration per se but rather is said to be because of his fear of return to Algeria," Lemieux wrote in his ruling.

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