Close X
Monday, November 11, 2024
ADVT 
National

Harper Appears Unmoved Following Omar Khadr's Release On Bail, Public Statements

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 08 May, 2015 01:15 PM
    OTTAWA — Omar Khadr's apologetic tone didn't seem to move Stephen Harper much Friday as the prime minister defended his Conservative government's efforts to keep the former Guantanamo Bay prisoner behind bars.
     
    "Mr. Khadr, as we all know, pled guilty to very grave crimes, including murder," Harper told a news conference as he offered his thoughts and prayers to the family members of U.S. Sgt. Christopher Speer.
     
    "Our government's priority in these matters is always to make sure, first and foremost, we keep in mind the protection and security of the Canadian population."
     
    Harper said little else, citing the fact the matter remains before the courts.
     
     Khadr, now 28, pleaded guilty in October 2010 before a widely discredited military commission to five war crimes — including murder in the death of Speer, a U.S. special forces soldier.
     
    On Thursday, he walked free after an Alberta judge rejected the government's last-ditch attempt to block his release, saying they had failed to prove Khadr posed a risk to the public or could do harm to Canadian interests.
     
    Some hours later, during a remarkable news conference on his lawyer's Edmonton driveway, Khadr apologized for the pain he's caused and urged Canadians to give him a chance to demonstrate his worth.
     
    "I will prove to them that I'm more than what they thought of me, I'll prove to them that I'm a good person," Khadr said.
     
    "Give me a chance — see who I am as a person, not as a name — and then they can make their own judgment after that."
     
     
    Khadr spent almost 13 years behind bars — four of them as a convicted war criminal.
     
    He was captured, badly wounded, by American forces in Afghanistan in July 2002, when he was 15 years old. At one time, he was the youngest prisoner at the American prison compound in Guantanamo Bay.
     
    After his release on bail, he offered a comment on Harper's hard-line stance: "I'm going to have to disappoint him, I'm better than the person he thinks I am."
     
    Justice Minister Peter MacKay sounded a slightly more conciliatory note than his boss Friday, saying Khadr's public declaration that he had renounced violence was a good first step after his release from prison.
     
    MacKay, speaking at an event in Halifax, said people shouldn't lose sight of the fact that Khadr was involved in terrorism.
     
    "What I hope will happen is that Mr. Khadr will abide by Canadian laws, respect people's safety, and he is now is a position where he is going to be given that opportunity to prove that," he said.
     
    "Let's look ahead with optimism, but with caution, when it comes to individuals who have past proven tendencies that have resulted in the loss of human life."
     
    After Khadr's release, a spokesperson for Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney said the minister regretted that a convicted terrorist had been released without having served his full sentence.
     
    Khadr's release came with a list of restrictions, including wearing a tracking bracelet and a curfew.

    MORE National ARTICLES

    Few Would Escape Death Or Injury If Bombs Went Off At B.C. Legislature: Court

    Few Would Escape Death Or Injury If Bombs Went Off At B.C. Legislature: Court
    An RCMP explosives expert who built the fake explosives for accused terrorists John Nuttall and Amanda Korody painted a grim picture of what could have happened had they been real.

    Few Would Escape Death Or Injury If Bombs Went Off At B.C. Legislature: Court

    B.C. Man Sought After Alberta Homicide Of Man Whose Remains May Have Been Found

    B.C. Man Sought After Alberta Homicide Of Man Whose Remains May Have Been Found
    Mounties in Grande Prairie, Alta., say they are looking for Tommy Paul in connection with the death of Adrian Snider and have charged two other people accused in the crime.

    B.C. Man Sought After Alberta Homicide Of Man Whose Remains May Have Been Found

    Minister of Education Peter Fassbender Talks About Working Together to End Gang-Violence in Surrey

    Minister of Education Peter Fassbender Talks About Working Together to End Gang-Violence in Surrey
    As the MLA for Surrey Fleetwood and Minister of Education I want to assure the residents and students of Surrey that you are not alone.  

    Minister of Education Peter Fassbender Talks About Working Together to End Gang-Violence in Surrey

    Dr. Pargat Singh Bhurji Going To Nepal To Help Earthquake Victims

    Dr. Pargat Singh Bhurji Going To Nepal To Help Earthquake Victims
    Dr. Pargat Singh Bhurji, a well-known pediatrician and neonatologist in Surrey, Canada, will be going to Nepal on May 7 to help out victims injured due to the earthquake on April 25.

    Dr. Pargat Singh Bhurji Going To Nepal To Help Earthquake Victims

    Landlord Hounds B.C. Dog Owners For Fecal Samples To Sniff Out 'Poopetrator'

    Landlord Hounds B.C. Dog Owners For Fecal Samples To Sniff Out 'Poopetrator'
    VANCOUVER — A B.C. landlord has unleashed his inner pet detective with demands that residents who own about 30 dogs submit samples of their animal's excrement to pinpoint the 'poopetrator' fouling the stairwell.

    Landlord Hounds B.C. Dog Owners For Fecal Samples To Sniff Out 'Poopetrator'

    Quesnel Lake Future Still Cloudy After Mount Polley Mine Disaster: Report

    Quesnel Lake Future Still Cloudy After Mount Polley Mine Disaster: Report
    VICTORIA — A report assessing the fallout from the Mount Polley tailings-pond breach in B.C.'s Cariboo region says Quesnel Lake in appears to have survived a major pollution disaster.

    Quesnel Lake Future Still Cloudy After Mount Polley Mine Disaster: Report