"It looks like Stephen Harper is going to be the last defender of Guantanamo Bay"

OTTAWA -- Even though Barack Obama says he will close the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Canada's new foreign affairs minister said Thursday the government is content to let Omar Khadr stay there.

That position was slammed by Mr. Khadr's U.S. military lawyer, human rights groups and political opponents of Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who expressed surprise that Obama's election on Nov. 4 has not caused Canada to reconsider its position on the Toronto-born youth. Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon said all questions regarding Canada's intention to seek Mr. Khadr's return from the Pentagon's Caribbean island prison are "premature" because the legal proceeding that has begun against him is still in progress.

"Mr. Khadr faces very serious charges," Mr. Cannon said Thursday from Lima, Peru, where he was attending APEC ministerial meetings.

"He is being held and it's our government's intention to follow and respect the process that's in place and, of course, to respect American sovereignty on this issue."

Mr. Cannon's comments on Mr. Khadr were the first by the Harper government since Mr. Obama's victory. Mr. Khadr, 22, is the last western national to be held in the controversial prison camp that was established in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Countries such as Britain and Australia have petitioned to have their detainees brought home but about 250 prisoners remain.

"It looks like Stephen Harper is going to be the last defender of Guantanamo Bay," Lt.-Cmdr. Bill Kuebler, Mr. Khadr's U.S. military lawyer, told Canwest News from Washington. "It is surprising to me, and it should be a surprise and embarrassing to Canadians."

Mr. Khadr is charged with killing a U.S. army medic in a firefight in Afghanistan in 2002 when he was 15. His trial has been repeatedly delayed and is now set for Jan. 26 -- six days after Mr. Obama is to be sworn in as president.

That has fuelled speculation that Mr. Khadr's trial will be cancelled as Mr. Obama is expected to scrap the Bush administration's military commission system upon taking office.

Full story: http://www.nationalpost.com/story.html?id=977747
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