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Sudan objects to UN troop plans Sudan says the United Nations cannot move new troops to its tense North-South border without first getting consent. bbc.co.uk |
Man jailed for 'executing' couple A student is jailed for a minimum of 30 years for the "cold-blooded execution" of an elderly couple in their Torquay flat. bbc.co.uk |
Al-Qaida 'child soldier' admits killing US soldier Canadian teenage militant Omar Khadr, now 24, in Guantánamo plea bargain to avoid war crimes trialA Canadian accused of killing an American soldier as a teenage al-Qaida militant pleaded guilty today in a deal that avoids a war crimes trial for someone labelled a "child soldier" by his defenders.Omar Khadr admitted five charges including murder for throwing a grenade that mortally wounded the soldier during a raid on an al-Qaida compound in Afghanistan in 2002. The now 24-year-old defendant also pleaded guilty to planting improvised explosive devices and receiving weapons training from the terrorist network.The exact terms of the plea agreement were not disclosed. Khadr will face a military jury for a sentencing hearing expected to last several days. The panel cannot impose a sentence more severe than the plea agreement. He had faced a possible life sentence in a trial due to start on Monday.Dressed in a dark suit instead of the solid colour jumpsuits typically worn by prisoners held at the US base in Cuba, the defendant, who was born in Toronto, answered "yes" to questions from the military judge making sure he understood the charges against him.Khadr previously rejected a plea agreement and when asked if anyone had made any promises to him so that he would plead guilty, he answered "no"."There's not much choice," attorney Dennis Edney said. "He either pleads guilty to avoid trial, or he goes to trial, and the trial is an unfair process."Khadr would be eligible for transfer back to Canada after serving the first year of his sentence as part of the agreement, said Colonel Patrick Parrish, the military judge..Khadr was accused of killing Sgt 1st Class Christopher Speer during a battle to take an al-Qaida compound in Afghanistan in 2002. The US army says the Canadian, who was seriously wounded in the firefight, is a war criminal because he was not a legitimate soldier. He also faces charges of spying, material support for terrorism, conspiracy and attempted murder.Khadr's war crimes trial, the first under President Barack Obama, began in August but was suspended when his defence lawyer fell ill.The case has outraged critics of Guantánamo Bay, who say Khadr should not be prosecuted because he was 15 at the time of the battle in Afghanistan and was subjected to harsh treatment in custody.Defenders say he was a child soldier pushed into militancy by his father, an associate of Osama bin Laden, who was killed in Pakistan after his son's capture. They say that killing a soldier during a firefight does not amount to a war crime."It's particularly galling that a president who promised to restore human rights is beginning the first trial here with a child soldier who was abused for years in US custody and was taken to a war zone by his dad," said Jennifer Turner, a lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union who is at the US base in Cuba to observe the proceedings.The sentencing hearing is likely to feature testimony from witnesses, including Speer's widow, with whom he had two children, and another soldier who was blinded in one eye during the firefight. A jury of military officers will vote on a sentence but officials overseeing the tribunals will reject their decision if it exceeds the terms of the plea bargain.Canadian media, citing anonymous sources, have reported that he would face one more year at Guantánamo and eight back in his native country.Layne Morris, the now-retired army sergeant who was partially blinded in the raid, said he would oppose that reported sentence as too lenient.The Guantánamo Bay war crimes trials are the first the US has held since the second wold war. Thye have been stalled repeatedly by legal challenges since they began in 2004.The US supreme court forced Congress and President George W Bush to modify the rules and Obama did it again as part of his so attempt to empty the detention centre. The military tribunals have convicted four men, none of them leading al-Qaida figures.Obama's supporters have been frustrated by his inability to close the detention centre, where the US holds about 170 men. Obama had directed the government shortly after his inauguration to close the prison within a year but the effort has been dogged by Congressional opposition to transferring prisoners to the US and difficulties finding places to resettle them elsewhere.Guantánamo BayCanadaAfghanistanUS foreign policyUnited StatesGlobal terrorismguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
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