Guantanamo 'child soldier' is freed

Subject: Guantanamo 'child soldier' is freed Sat Sep 29, 2012 11:23 pm

The youngest and last Western detainee held at the US military prison in Guantanamo Bay has returned to Canada after a decade in custody.

Guantanamo 'child soldier' is freed 33830551

Omar Khadr, 26, was captured in Afghanistan when he was 15 after being wounded in a firefight with US soldiers.

Canadian public safety minister Vic Toews said Khadr arrived at a Canadian military base on a US government plane on Saturday and was transferred to the Millhaven maximum security prison in Bath, Ontario.

The son of an alleged al Qaida financier, Khadr pleaded guilty in 2010 to killing a US soldier in Afghanistan and was eligible to return to Canada from Guantanamo Bay last October under terms of a plea deal.

But Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper's Conservative government had long refused to request the return of Khadr, the youngest detainee held at Guantanamo. The reluctance was partly due to suspicions about the Khadr family, which has been called "the first family of terrorism".

The US Defence Department confirmed the transfer and said 166 detainees remained in detention at Guantanamo Bay.

Toronto-born Khadr was captured in 2002 in Afghanistan and has spent a decade at Guantanamo, set up on the US naval base in Cuba, to hold suspected terrorists after the September 11 2001, attacks. He received an eight-year sentence in 2010 after being convicted of throwing a grenade that killed Sgt Christopher Speer during a 2002 firefight.

"His head is spinning a bit and it's going to be a real adjustment for him, but at the same time he is so happy to be home," John Norris, Khadr's Canadian lawyer, said after speaking to his client. "He can't believe that it is finally true. He simply can't. For very good reason he was quite fearful that the government would not follow through on its word and he's pinching himself right now not believing that this government has finally kept its word."

Mr Norris said Khadr would be eligible for parole as early as next summer, but added that his return to Canada was 10 years too late.

Khadr has claimed in the past that he was abused at Guantanamo, but Canadian Foreign Affairs officials said they accepted US assurances that he was treated humanely. Khadr has received some sympathy from Canadians, largely due to his age and the torture allegations.

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Guantanamo 'child soldier' is freed

Guantanamo 'child soldier' is freed

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