Delays Keep Former Qaeda Child Soldier at Guantánamo, Despite Plea Deal
Delays Keep Former Qaeda Child Soldier at Guantánamo, Despite Plea Deal
By CHARLIE SAVAGE
Published: March 24, 2012
WASHINGTON — When Omar Khadr, a former child soldier for Al Qaeda, agreed to plead guilty in a high-profile case before a military commission 17 months ago, the terms of his plea deal strongly signaled that after November 2011 he would be transferred to his native Canada to serve the remainder of his sentence.
But that date has come and gone, and a frustrated Mr. Khadr remains at the military prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. Officials say his limbo status is the result of bureaucratic delays in processing his application to transfer, especially within the Canadian government.
“He’s ready to go home,” said Lt. Col. Jon Jackson of the Army, Mr. Khadr’s military lawyer. “He’s upheld his end of the bargain.”
Mr. Khadr’s predicament has broader consequences. He is the first inmate who appeared ready to be transferred home as a result of a plea deal under the Obama administration’s revised system of tribunals, a prospect that prosecutors are now aggressively dangling before other Guantánamo detainees.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/25/us/delays-keep-omar-khadr-at-guantanamo-despite-plea-deal.html?_r=1&ref=us