A Canadian court ordered the government today to press Washington for the release of Omar Khadr, a Canadian man who has been held in the US prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, since 2002.
The judgment by the Federal Court is a major embarrassment for prime minister Stephen Harper, who has resolutely brushed off demands that he intercede on behalf of Mr Khadr.
"This court orders that ... the respondents (the government) request that the United States return Mr Khadr to Canada as soon as practicable," ruled Judge James O'Reilly.
Mr Khadr has been charged with killing a US soldier in Afghanistan in July 2002, when he was 15. Mr Khadr, now 22, is the only citizen of a western nation still imprisoned at Guantanamo.
Reuters
