Canadian-Born Guantanamo Convict Plans Appeal

Canadian-born former Guantanamo inmate Omar Khadr plans to appeal his conviction for war crimes after two similar cases were quashed, the Toronto Globe and Mail newspaper reported on Saturday.

Khadr, 26, was repatriated to a high-security jail in Canada last September after spending 10 years in the U.S.-run prison following his arrest in Afghanistan as a teenager in 2002.

He was sentenced to eight years in 2010 following a military hearing in which he agreed to plead guilty to murder in violation of the law of war, attempted murder, conspiracy, providing material support for terrorism and spying. The murder charge related to a grenade attack that killed a U.S. soldier.

However, Khadr's lawyers are now contesting the validity of his conviction and plan to appeal in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

Attorney Sam Morison, who is heading the legal team that will lead the appeal, said there were "serious questions" about the validity of Khadr's convictions.

"As the law now stands, I don't see how his convictions can be affirmed," Morison told the paper.

Khadr is lodging his appeal following the successful challenges by two high-profile al-Qaida defendants, Ali Hamza Bahlul and Salim Hamdan.

Both men saw their convictions overturned on the grounds that the crimes for which they had been convicted by the Guantanamo tribunal had not existed in law when the defendants were captured. Khadr's defense team plans to argue along similar lines.

"Not only weren't they war crimes at the time of their commission but, I would argue that none of them are crimes today, not in international law," Morison was quoted as saying.

The Globe and Mail said it was likely to be months before the appeal was formally launched.

Khadr was captured in a house in the village of Khost by U.S. Special Forces in July 2002 where he had been based with other militants building and planting roadside bombs.

Khadr's father, Ahmed Said Khadr, an Egyptian-born Canadian, was considered an influential member of al-Qaida. He was killed in Pakistan in 2003.