Omar Khadr videos now in Canada?s hands

In the diplomatic chess game over Guantanamo prisoner Omar Khadr, the next move is once again Ottawa?s to make.

On Wednesday, Washington handed over the material requested by Public Safety Minister Vic Toews, including the unredacted videotaped interview a Pentagon-hired psychiatrist conducted with Khadr in Guantanamo.

?When the items are reviewed, the Minister will give them the appropriate consideration and render a decision in accordance with Canadian law,? Toews? spokeswoman Julie Carmichael said.

Toews wrote to U.S. Defence Secretary Leon Panetta in July requesting the information in order ?to assess the mental state of Mr. Khadr.?

Khadr?s lawyers claimed the move was a stall tactic to avoid bringing the Toronto-born captive back to Canada, which was a condition of his plea deal.

?The minister said in his letter that when he receives the material he would make a decision,? said Khadr?s Toronto lawyer Brydie Bethell on Wednesday. ?Now he has everything he requested and none of it is news to him. Today is the day to make a decision. There is zero justification for further delay.?

Khadr pleaded guilty before Guantanamo?s military commissions to five war crimes, including murder in the death of U.S. Delta Force soldier Christopher Speer, in return for an eight-year sentence. A diplomatic note from Canada?s embassy in Washington that stated Ottawa would ?favourably consider? Khadr?s transfer after one more year served in Guantanamo was a key part of the October 2010 agreement.

Khadr?s lawyers are currently before the federal court arguing that Ottawa?s delay in making a decision on the transfer is ?unreasonable? and ?an abuse of process.?

Longtime diplomat Gar Pardy, one of the applicants in the case, said he has been surprised by Ottawa?s handling of the case.

?Diplomatic notes are one government talking to another at the highest public level. When you do that, you do not deliberately distort or lie, and you honour (agreements) without exception,? he said in an interview Wednesday.

Pardy retired from Canada?s Department of Foreign Affairs in 2003 after three decades of service, earning him the Ottawa nickname of ?Mr. Consular.?

Although polls over the past decade have shown Canadians are divided on the Khadr case, duelling online petitions seem to favour transferring the 25-year-old to Canadian custody to serve the remainder of his sentence.

?Bring Back Omar Khadr from Guantanamo Bay,? a petition started by Liberal Senator Romeo Dallaire on Change.org, had more than 30,400 signatures by Wednesday afternoon. An anti-Khadr petition on GoPetition, urging the government to refuse his transfer, had about 4,320 signatures.

Source: http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/1251930--omar-khadr-videos-now-in-canada-s-hands

statins chardon sean young juan pablo montoya free pancakes at ihop martina navratilova high school shooting