Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Washington Post
April 25, 2007
Pg. 10
By Dan Eggen, Washington Post Staff Writer
The U.S. military filed charges of murder and other crimes yesterday against a Canadian detainee whose family is alleged to have close ties to Osama bin Laden, launching the second case under a new military trial system at the naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Omar Khadr, 20, is accused of killing a U.S. soldier with a grenade and injuring another during a firefight at an alleged al-Qaeda compound in Afghanistan in 2002. He was charged with murder and attempted murder in violation of the law of war, as well as conspiracy, spying and providing material support for terrorism, according to charging documents.
Khadr is the second prisoner to be charged under the new military commission system created by Congress last year, after the Supreme Court struck down as unconstitutional a previous version of the trials.
He could become the first prisoner to face trial under the new system. The first defendant, Australian David M. Hicks, pleaded guilty last month to lending material support to terrorists as part of a plea agreement. Hicks is scheduled to be turned over to Australian authorities by the end of May.
Although the murder charge could carry the death penalty, Khadr is not charged with a capital offense, according to military documents. He faces life imprisonment if convicted.
His military defender did not return a telephone call seeking comment.
Khadr was 15 when he was captured, and his case has attracted widespread attention in Canada, largely because of his family's notoriety. U.S. authorities say that the family lived in bin Laden's compound for several years and that his father, Ahmed Said Khadr, was a key al-Qaeda commander before he was killed by Pakistani troops in 2003. Omar Khadr's brother was imprisoned briefly at Guantanamo Bay.
The charges stem from a gunfight at a compound near Khost, Afghanistan, on July 27, 2002. Khadr surprised U.S. troops by throwing a grenade that allegedly killed Sgt. Christopher J. Speers and injured another soldier.
The U.S. military also alleges that Khadr received training from al-Qaeda, spied on U.S. troops, set land mines, threw grenades and fired shots at U.S. and Afghan soldiers.
Robert M. Chesney, a Wake Forest University law professor who closely follows the military commissions, said the government argues that Khadr is not entitled to the normal legal protections afforded soldiers because he was fighting on behalf of a non-state terrorist group. That allegation also forms the basis for charging Khadr with violating the law of war, Chesney and others said.
"Was it a violation of the law of war to throw a grenade at the soldier?" Chesney asked. "The government obviously believes it is. But others would say that it's not a war crime, that he just doesn't get the defense that normal soldiers would have."
Chesney said that unlike some of the other potential defendants at Guantanamo Bay, Khadr is accused of committing a crime that U.S. soldiers witnessed, making the allegations potentially easier to prove at trial.
Staff researcher Julie Tate contributed to this report.
April 25, 2007
Pg. 10
By Dan Eggen, Washington Post Staff Writer
The U.S. military filed charges of murder and other crimes yesterday against a Canadian detainee whose family is alleged to have close ties to Osama bin Laden, launching the second case under a new military trial system at the naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Omar Khadr, 20, is accused of killing a U.S. soldier with a grenade and injuring another during a firefight at an alleged al-Qaeda compound in Afghanistan in 2002. He was charged with murder and attempted murder in violation of the law of war, as well as conspiracy, spying and providing material support for terrorism, according to charging documents.
Khadr is the second prisoner to be charged under the new military commission system created by Congress last year, after the Supreme Court struck down as unconstitutional a previous version of the trials.
He could become the first prisoner to face trial under the new system. The first defendant, Australian David M. Hicks, pleaded guilty last month to lending material support to terrorists as part of a plea agreement. Hicks is scheduled to be turned over to Australian authorities by the end of May.
Although the murder charge could carry the death penalty, Khadr is not charged with a capital offense, according to military documents. He faces life imprisonment if convicted.
His military defender did not return a telephone call seeking comment.
Khadr was 15 when he was captured, and his case has attracted widespread attention in Canada, largely because of his family's notoriety. U.S. authorities say that the family lived in bin Laden's compound for several years and that his father, Ahmed Said Khadr, was a key al-Qaeda commander before he was killed by Pakistani troops in 2003. Omar Khadr's brother was imprisoned briefly at Guantanamo Bay.
The charges stem from a gunfight at a compound near Khost, Afghanistan, on July 27, 2002. Khadr surprised U.S. troops by throwing a grenade that allegedly killed Sgt. Christopher J. Speers and injured another soldier.
The U.S. military also alleges that Khadr received training from al-Qaeda, spied on U.S. troops, set land mines, threw grenades and fired shots at U.S. and Afghan soldiers.
Robert M. Chesney, a Wake Forest University law professor who closely follows the military commissions, said the government argues that Khadr is not entitled to the normal legal protections afforded soldiers because he was fighting on behalf of a non-state terrorist group. That allegation also forms the basis for charging Khadr with violating the law of war, Chesney and others said.
"Was it a violation of the law of war to throw a grenade at the soldier?" Chesney asked. "The government obviously believes it is. But others would say that it's not a war crime, that he just doesn't get the defense that normal soldiers would have."
Chesney said that unlike some of the other potential defendants at Guantanamo Bay, Khadr is accused of committing a crime that U.S. soldiers witnessed, making the allegations potentially easier to prove at trial.
Staff researcher Julie Tate contributed to this report.