Terror charges reinstated against Omar Khadr

A US military appeals court has overruled a judge who threw out murder and terrorism charges against Omar Khadr.

The decision by the U.S. Court of Military Commission Review means the Pentagon once again has the green light to put the 21-year-old on trial before a war-crimes tribunal at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

There are some groups that have been advocating for the return of Omar Khadr to Canada. Such a move would be premature, as he is a hardened, al-Qaeda trained combatant, who is accused of killing a US medic. There is no guarantee that Omar will not return to his previous al-Qaeda activities and plot against our troops serving in Afghanistan. Take for instance his late father, Ahmed Said Khadr.

Ahmed Khadr was a financier for al-Qaeda and was being held in prison in Pakistan. At the urging of the Khadr family, former Liberal Prime Minister, Jean Chretien, while on a visit to that country advocated for his release. That decision brought nothing but unnecessary trouble and regret for him and his government.

Jean Chrétien raised the Khadr case with the Pakistani prime minister at the time, Benazir Bhutto, and within weeks, Ahmed Said Khadr was released.

Once he was released, Ahmed Khadr immediately resumed his al-Qaeda activities and was later killed in a gun battle with Pakistan troops.

It is probably best for Canada that he stays in Guantamo Bay. Given Canada’s lax justice system, chances are that he would be quickly released and free to pursue his association with al-Qaeda.

There is not much sympathy for the Khadr family from the Canadian public, especially because of their links to terrorist groups and the contraversal interview in which Ahmed Khadr's wife and daughters denounced Canada during a television documentary. Without the support of the Canadian public, there is no urgency on the part of the government to intervene on his behalf, so Omar may remain in Guantamo Bay for a long time.

The Canadian public has had little sympathy for the Khadr family since it was revealed that patriarch Ahmed Said Khadr was a close associate of Osama bin Laden. Comments made by his wife and daughter during a television documentary further agitated some Canadians, who demanded their citizenship be revoked.

In government circles, the "Khadr effect" is also meant to serve as a warning not to intervene in foreign security cases if there's potential for embarrassment. That goes back to 1996 when prime minister Jean Chrétien intervened in the case of Ahmed Said Khadr, who was under arrest by Pakistani authorities for allegedly financing a terrorist bombing.