A lawyer for Abousfian Abdelrazik has accused former foreign minister Lawrence Cannon of exiling the Montreal man by denying him a passport to return to Canada.

Cannon told a Federal Court hearing today he did not exile Abdelrazik but refused him an emergency travel document on national security grounds in the best interests of Canada.

The Sudanese-born Abdelrazik, now 62, settled in Montreal as a refugee and became a Canadian citizen in the 1990s.

During a 2003 visit to his native country to see his ailing mother, he was arrested, imprisoned and questioned about suspected extremist connections.

Abdelrazik, who denies involvement in terrorism, says he was tortured by Sudanese authorities during two periods of detention.

He is suing the Canadian government, claiming officials arranged for his arbitrary imprisonment, encouraged his detention by Sudanese authorities and blocked his repatriation to Canada for several years.