Monia Mazigh to publish memoir of Arar tragedy

Monia Mazigh, who won the admiration of Canadians during herpublic fight to get her husband Maher Arar freed from a Syrian prison, is writing a memoir.

Toronto publisher McClelland & Stewart announced Monday that it had bought the rights to her autobiography through agent Michael Levine.

Her husband Arar is the Ottawa engineer who was shipped to a Syrian prison by the U.S. after a stopover on a flight to Canada.

He was mistakenly labelled an Islamic extremist and tortured while in jail.

The book will be Tunisian-born Mazigh's personal story of her battle to rescue her husband.

Mazigh, who has a PhD in financial economics from McGill University, aspired to be a university professor before the tragedycatapulted her family into the spotlight.

She became a determined advocate for her husband during his time in prison and joined with human rights groups to press the government for his release.

After his release, she accompanied the emotionally ravaged Arar on public appearances and backed him in his long fight to determine Canada's role in his arrest and deportation.

Arar eventually won an apology from the RCMP over the affair and has filed a lawsuit against senior officials in the U.S. government.

Mazigh, mother of two children, plans to chronicle the impact of their struggle on her family and their daily life in the memoir.

She is fluent in French, English and Arabic. The book is scheduled to be published in 2009.