The Houston Chronicle
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The Pentagon on Tuesday formally charged a Canadian citizen being held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, with murder for allegedly killing a U.S. Army medic during fighting in Afghanistan. The charge sets the stage for his trial by a military commission.
Omar Khadr, now 20, was 15 on July 27, 2002, when he allegedly threw a grenade at U.S. soldiers who had attacked a suspected al-Qaida compound near Khost, Afghanistan.
The explosion killed Sgt. 1st Class Christopher Speer, 28, of Albuquerque, N.M., and partially blinded both Khadr and another American soldier.
Khadr also has been charged with attempted murder, conspiracy, providing material support to terrorism and spying. The United States has accused him of helping al-Qaida convert land mines into roadside bombs, plotting with al-Qaida to kill U.S. troops, undergoing al-Qaida weapons training and surveilling American military convoys in preparation for al-Qaida attacks.
Lawyers for Khadr have argued that he never should have been held or charged and instead should have been treated under international law as a “child soldier” in a conflict zone.
The Pentagon said prosecutors won’t seek the death penalty in the case, the second to be brought under legislation passed last year authorizing military commissions for prisoners held at Guantanamo. The first case ended when the defendant, Australian David Hicks, 31, pleaded guilty to providing material support for terrorism in exchange for a nine-month prison sentence.