Court date set for Canadian detainee
Washington ? The Pentagon Tuesday announced a Nov. 10 war crimes trial date for alleged Canadian teen terrorist Omar Khadr, meaning the terror murder trial at will follow both the U.S. and Canada’s elections and could straddle Thanksgiving.
Khadr, 21, is accused at the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, war court of throwing a grenade in a July 2002 firefight near Khost, Afghanistan, that killed a U.S. commando. American forces were assaulting a suspected al-Qaida compound. Conviction could carry a life sentence.
His trial had earlier been set to open Oct. 8. But prosecutors and defense attorneys have yet to work out access to some proposed trial evidence and whether the government will permit a private mental health examination of Khadr.
Now, according to the war court calendar, the next alleged terrorist to face trial is Ali Hamza al-Bahlul, 39, of Yemen, who allegedly served as bin Laden’s media secretary.