The Case of Omar Khadr, Canadian Detainee in Guantanamo Bay, Explodes With Release of Tape

    Lawyers representing the lone Canadian prisoner in Guantanamo Bay renewed their calls for his repatriation following the release of a videotape of his interrogation by Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) agents in 2003. The once-secret material was widely released Tuesday after a series of Canadian court orders. The tape depicts a then-16-year-old Khadr weeping and complaining of the medical treatment he received at the U.S. military prison in Cuba. Khadr was captured in 2002 by U.S. soldiers after an altercation in Afghanistan. He is accused of killing a U.S. soldier with a grenade and is scheduled to be tried before a military commission in October 2008. Khadr has spent nearly six years at Guantanamo Bay. His father was Ahmed Said Khadr, an Egyptian-Canadian al-Qaeda lieutenant who died in 2003. While Khadr has allegedly confessed to the crime, experts claims evidence collected under duress in Guantanamo or Afghanistan would be useless in Canadian court. Several lawmakers have called for the prosecution of Khadr, now 21, under Canadian law, which would be a challenging and unprecedented process.

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