Guantanamo's youngest detainee transferred to Canada
Omar Khadr, 26, was reportedly 15 years old when he was arrested in Afghanistan. A Canadian citizen, he was the last Western detainee in Guantanamo.
Khadr did a plea bargain deal with the war crimes court in 2010, and pleaded guilty to murder and attempted murder in violation of the law of air, conspiracy, providing material support for terrorism, and spying.
Khadr had been accused of throwing a grenade and killing a US Special Forces soldier during a gun battle following a raid on a suspected al Qaeda compound in Afghanistan.
According to the Department of Defense, Khadr, a Canadian citizen, was supposed to serve only a year of confinement in US custody; the rest of his eight-year sentence of confinement was to be in accordance with Canadian law. However, his transfer did not take place till September 2012.
Reuters reported that Canadian Public Safety Minister Vic Toews said that Khadr, who was a 15-year-old fighting in Afghanistan when captured in 2002, had been flown to a military base in Trenton, Ontario and transferred to the province's Millhaven maximum-security prison.
Khadr's case has been controversial both in Canada and abroad given his age when he was captured, the nature of his detention and hearing, and the reluctance of Canadian officials to accept his return.
Currently, there are 166 detainees at Guantanamo Bay.
Earlier this month, detainee Adnan Farhan Abdul Lateef died at the facility. Details of the cause of Latif's death are yet to be made public.
COMMENTS (2)
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What can you say about a country that incarcerates 15 year old and women (aafia)? Shame on them.
No sympathy for this guy regardless of his age -- his father was killed fighting Pakistani troops and his brother was paralyzed doing the same. There is no dispute about this guys guilt and some would argue that an 8 year sentence as part of his pleading guilty is too light of a sentence given his his crime and likelihood of future terrorist activity.