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Four months have been set aside next year to hear the human rights lawsuit launched by Ottawa’s Abdullah Almalki and two other Arab-Canadians tortured overseas in the aftermath of 9/11.

It promises to be a case like no other in Canada’s legal history, and could set key precedents for civil claims filed by other alleged victims in the war on terror, such as Omar Khadr, Abousfian Abdelrazik and Adil Charkaoui.

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Launched a decade ago in 2006, the Almalki case continues to grind its way toward trial as judges wrestle with how to deal with national security concerns raised in 6,000 government documents.

Almalki and his family are seeking $100 million in damages from federal officials for breaching his Charter rights through their alleged complicity in his detention and torture in Syria.

Government lawyers have blamed Syria for any alleged mistreatment of Almalki.

Amnesty International Canada’s secretary general, Alex Neve, says the government’s approach to the Almalki case has been “absolutely unconscionable” given a federal inquiry concluded Canadian officials were partly to blame for his torture.