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Trained al Qaeda soldier, killing of an American

Charges dismissed without prejudice against Gitmo "child soldier"

By Judi McLeod

Tuesday, June 5, 2007

Touted as a "child soldier" even on his day in court, Gitmo detainee Omar Khadr had charges against him dropped yesterday by a military judge. The judge ruled that his tribunal had no jurisdiction to try the alleged murderer and terrorist because the government had failed to designate him an "unlawful enemy combatant".

"Charges are dismissed without prejudice," Col. Peter Brownback said in his bombshell decision.

Charges were also dropped against Salim Ahmed Hamdan of Yemin, accused of driving and guarding Osama bin Laden.

Omar Khadr--Hamilton Spectator New Democrat Justice Critic Joe Comartin said it was an opportune time for Canada to step in and have Khan, 20, serve any sentence within Canada.

"This individual was 15 years of age when the alleged crime took place. He was by all intents and purposes a child soldier," Comartin said.

The child soldier spin has stuck with Omar Khadr since he was charged.

The charges against Khadr, announced by the Pentagon in November of 2005, stem from a grenade attack in Afghanistan that killed 28-year-old U.S. medic Sgt. Christopher Speer and cost Sgt. 1st class Layne Morris his sight in one eye.

Speer left behind a wife and two children, ages 3 and 11 months. Just days before his murder, Speer had selflessly walked into a minefield to rescue two wounded Afghan children.

With murder and attempted murder charges laid against him by the U.S. military, the then 18-year-old Omar Khadr was presented on the front page of the Toronto Star as a "Toronto teen" and a "child".

"Omar Khadr is a child," Muneer Ahmad, a Center for Constitutional Rights lawyer, told the Star.

If found guilty, Khadr would be the "child" and "teenager" who widowed Tabitha Speer.

"The Canadian youth was the only survivor of a U.S. raid on an al Qaeda compound and is alleged to have thrown the grenade as the Americans stormed the building," Star writers Tim Harper in Washington and Michelle Shephard in Toronto wrote in a 2005 double bylined article.

Following Khadr's capture, his sister Zaynab said the death of Sgt. Speer was no "big deal".

When Canadians complained about Zaynab's outrageous 2004 comments to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) indicating that Americans deserve to feel a pain similar to what they inflicted on others, then Prime Minister Paul Martin reminded them that as a "Canadian citizen" she had a right to her opinions.

It was another Canadian Liberal Prime Minister, Martin's predecessor Jean Chrtien who during a 1996 state visit to Pakistan, "aggressively sought guarantees" for imprisoned Khadr family patriarch Ahmed Said Khadr from then Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto to ensure that Khadr would receive due process and fair treatment.

Ahmed Said Khadr, officially identified as Canada's highest-ranking member of al Qaeda, was subsequently set free.

The Khadr family's association to al Qaeda as terrorist-trained members is legendary. Osama bin Laden was a guest at Zaynab Khadr's wedding.

Yesterday Omar Khadr refused to stand as his hearing began in a show of disdain for the U.S. military tribunal that was intended to try him on terrorist charges.

The last word here belongs to Sgt. First Class Layne Morris, who once told the Boston Globe, "That wasn't a panicky teenager we encountered that day. "That was a trained al Qaeda who wanted to make his last act on earth the killing of an American."

Canada Free Press founding editor Most recent by Judi McLeod is an award-winning journalist with 30 years experience in the print media. Her work has appeared on Newsmax.com, Drudge Report, Foxnews.com, Glenn Beck. Judi can be reached at: judi@canadafreepress.com


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