Close X
Friday, October 4, 2024
ADVT 
National

Omar Khadr To Ask For Canadian Passport To Travel, Permission To Speak To Sister

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 10 Dec, 2018 09:17 PM

    EDMONTON — Former Guantanamo Bay detainee Omar Khadr wants to be granted a Canadian passport to travel to Saudi Arabia and permission to speak to his controversial sister.


    Khadr, who is now 32, will be back in the Court of Queen's Bench in Edmonton Thursday to apply for changes to his bail conditions which were imposed while he appeals war crime convictions by a U.S. military commission.


    An affidavit by Khadr filed with the court says the impact of his bail conditions are mainly psychological — a daily reminder of what he went through.


    "I feel like the indefinite and potentially endless detention that I suffered in Guantanamo Bay is continuing," he wrote. "I hope that there will be some end to this process, but there is none in sight."


    Khadr spent years in U.S. detention at Guantanamo Bay after he was caught when he was 15 and accused of tossing a grenade that killed special forces soldier Christopher Speer at a militant compound in Afghanistan in 2002.


    He says in his affidavit that he would like to be able to speak on the phone or over Skype to his sister Zaynab Khadr. He is also asking to perform the Hajj, a pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia which is a mandatory religious duty for Muslims once in their lifetime.


    "For this reason, I would like to apply for a Canadian passport," he said in the document.


    Zaynab Khadr has spoken in favour of al-Qaida and was investigated in Canada more than a decade ago for helping the terrorist network, but she was never charged.


    "My sister Zaynab is not presently in Canada," Khadr said in the document. "She is living with her husband and family. As far as I am aware, she is not in any sort of trouble."


    The rules of Khadr's bail allow him to meet with her but only in the presence of his bail supervisor or one of his lawyers.


    Khadr also needs permission to travel outside Alberta, and has made several trips to Toronto both to visit his family and deal with a civil lawsuit there to enforce a judgement granted against him in Utah.


    In his affidavit, Khadr said he has been volunteering with an organization that helps refugees integrate into the community and has earned his high school diploma. Khadr said he is happily married and was accepted into a nursing program, but has been unable to devote himself to study due to his legal issues.


    "My reintegration into the community has been filled with happiness and not bitterness," he wrote. "I have no anger towards anyone and I have been getting on with my life. I have made many friends, and I am proud and happy to be a Canadian citizen living in Canada.


    "I have not gotten into any trouble of any kind with the authorities."


    His case has ignited sharp and divisive debate among Canadians over terrorism, human rights and the rule of law since the summer of 2017 when it was revealed the federal government had settled a lawsuit filed by him for a reported $10.5 million.


    The payout followed a ruling by Canada's Supreme Court in 2010 that Khadr's charter rights were violated at Guantanamo and that Canadian officials contributed to that violation.

    MORE National ARTICLES

    B.C. Man Who Filmed People While They Were Naked Gets House Arrest, Probation

    B.C. Man Who Filmed People While They Were Naked Gets House Arrest, Probation
    KELOWNA, B.C. — A Kelowna, B.C., man who admitted to filming people while they were naked in a private residence has been sentenced to 14 months house arrest.

    B.C. Man Who Filmed People While They Were Naked Gets House Arrest, Probation

    Canadian Tycoon's Son Who Wrote Graphic Novel Sentenced For Murder

    Canadian Tycoon's Son Who Wrote Graphic Novel Sentenced For Murder
    A Los Angeles jury found Blake Leibel, 37, guilty last week of first-degree murder, torture and aggravated mayhem in the slaying of 30-year-old Iana Kasian.

    Canadian Tycoon's Son Who Wrote Graphic Novel Sentenced For Murder

    Money Laundering Through B.C. Casinos Tied To Opioid Crisis: Report

    Money Laundering Through B.C. Casinos Tied To Opioid Crisis: Report
    British Columbia's attorney general says money-laundering operations through the province's casinos are tied to the opioid crisis and the real-estate market.

    Money Laundering Through B.C. Casinos Tied To Opioid Crisis: Report

    Video Showing Chickens Left Without Food And Water Triggers BC SPCA Animal Cruelty Probe

    Video Showing Chickens Left Without Food And Water Triggers BC SPCA Animal Cruelty Probe
    The SPCA is investigating an egg farm and a chicken-catching service in British Columbia following reports of alleged neglect and cruelty.

    Video Showing Chickens Left Without Food And Water Triggers BC SPCA Animal Cruelty Probe

    Radio Host Outspoken About Surrey Gang Violence Says Bullets Fired At Her Car

    Radio Host Outspoken About Surrey Gang Violence Says Bullets Fired At Her Car
    On Saturday night she was driving home from a family dinner when she heard a loud gunshot, she said. It felt like someone had hurled a rock at her vehicle, but when she heard a second shot, she realized it wasn't a rock.

    Radio Host Outspoken About Surrey Gang Violence Says Bullets Fired At Her Car

    Canada Asks Japan To Clarify Adoption Stand, Grants Visas To Stranded Families

    Canada Asks Japan To Clarify Adoption Stand, Grants Visas To Stranded Families
    VANCOUVER — The Canadian government says it is processing visas for families who were near the end of the adoption process in Japan after five of them were stranded for weeks in a bureaucratic impasse.

    Canada Asks Japan To Clarify Adoption Stand, Grants Visas To Stranded Families