Omar Khadr Sentenced To Eight Years In Prison

Omar Khadr, a Canadian al Qaeda member, was sentenced to eight more years in prison under a plea deal arranged last week.

The sentence was handed down Sunday under a plea bargain in which the young Canadian admitted to five war crimes charges, including killing a U.S. soldier in Afghanistan. Under the deal, the judge was limited to the eight-year sentence and had to ignore the recommendation of a military jury that Khadr serve 40 years.

The case attracted intense scrutiny and criticism because Khadr was 15 when he was captured after suffering serious wounds during a four-hour battle at an Al Qaeda compound in Afghanistan in 2002.

Appearing relaxed, Khadr stared straight ahead as the judge read a sentence that calls for him to stay at the Guantanmo prison another year before he can ask Canada's government to allow him to return to his homeland to serve out his sentence or seek early release on parole. He doesn't get credit for the eight years he already spent at Guantanamo.

He was 17 when he killed U.S. Army medic Christopher Speer, and will be as young as 32 when he is ultimately released.

The case made headlines because of Khadr's age at the time he was captured and accused of killing Sgt. Speer and that he has been detained at Guantanamo Bay for a significant portion of the time he has been in US custody. His Canadian lawyer claims that his rights were violated and that the admission of guilt is baseless, but the fact is that he did kill Speer and for that, his ultimate sentence is far too lenient.

Canadian al Qaeda Pleads Guilty At Gitmo Tribunal For Terror Related Charges

Omar Khadr, a Canadian who was captured by US forces in Afghanistan after killing a US soldier, entered a guilty plea at a tribunal at Guantanamo Bay Cuba. The sentence will be handed down separately.

Omar Khadr, who was captured in Afghanistan at age 15 and is now 24, admitted five charges including killing of a U.S. soldier in a plea agreement with military authorities.

Khadr had been facing a possible life sentence if convicted at a trial that was scheduled to start Monday.

The terms of the plea deal have not yet been disclosed. The military will now hold a sentencing hearing before a jury of military officers.

According to the charges, Khadr threw a grenade that killed U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Christopher Speer of Albuquerque, N.M., in Afghanistan in 2002. Khadr himself was shot twice in the back and blinded in one eye during that battle.

He was also charged with conspiring with al-Qaida, helping al-Qaida operatives make roadside bombs and spying on U.S. convoys in Afghanistan.

The focus on this particular case stems from the fact that Khadr was 15 when he murdered Sgt. Speer and that it was the first time since World War 2 that a juvenile was being tried for war crimes. Mind you that in many parts of the world, child soldiers can and do kill their opposition without care about the acts they commit and that al Qaeda and other Islamic terror groups have taken to recruiting kids to act as both cannon fodder and to indoctrinate another generation into hate.

While the terms of his sentence aren't yet know, the report indicates that he may serve one more year at Gitmo before being transferred to Canada for another seven years. That means that he could be released when he is just 32 years old. He had been facing life in prison before entering the plea deal.