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.

I feel like the indefinite and potentially endless detention that I suffered in Guantanamo Bay is continuing

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.</s>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 says in the document.

Zaynab Khadr has spoken in favour of al-Qaeda 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.

Permission to leave Alberta

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 judgment 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.</s>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.</s>Most of us would have taken the money and run. But not Omar Khadr. He’s back and asking for more.

Last summer, when word got out that the government quietly gave the convicted killer $10.5 million, was the last time we had the Khadr debate.

Now that Khadr is headed to an Edmonton courthouse on Thursday to ask for his bail conditions to be eased, the debate will rear up all over again. You know the one. Terrorist or child soldier? Victim or villain? Etc. Etc.

There’s little in the latest news that is going to advance that conversation. Opinions are hardened. Lines are drawn.

What Khadr is seeking is for two restrictions to be dropped: He wants to apply for a Canadian passport so he can visit Saudi Arabia to perform the Hajj, the Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca. He also wants to be able to speak unhindered to his sister Zaynab Khadr, who is out of the country. Right now, he can only interact with her if his lawyer or a bail supervisor is present.

It’s that second one that’s a window into one of the lesser acknowledged problems with Khadr. The lack of public remorse. The lack of clear regret.

And I’m not referring to his regrets at throwing the grenade that killed U.S. army medic Christopher Speer and blinded soldier Layne Morris. While Khadr confessed to those crimes he’s now saying it was under duress, that he didn’t do it and he’s now appealing that conviction. So even if you believe he did it you shouldn’t expect him to show regret for something he’s now arguing he didn’t do it.

No, it’s his broader lack of remorse at the entire situation that’s the problem. Khadr’s saga did not begin with the United States taking him into custody (where, don’t forget, he was promptly patched up by their top-notch medics).

It began when his father Ahmed Khadr decided to become an extremist, a pal of Osama Bin Laden’s, a financier of Al Qaeda, someone arrested in connection with a deadly Islamabad embassy bombing. And it also began when the father brought the kids along into the family business, making them members of what’s been called Canada’s first family of terror.

Where is the remorse for that? When is Khadr going to speak out against that troubled state of affairs?

Khadr is asking the courts to let him speak to a sister who had Bin Laden at one of her weddings and who mourned his passing, who defended the 9/11 attacks and who appeared in court to support the Toronto 18 accused.

Yet the affidavit Khadr has filed in court doesn’t seem to mention any sort of regret about any of this. It’s like he refuses to publicly acknowledge this entire part of his personal story.

“I feel like the indefinite and potentially endless detention that I suffered in Guantanamo Bay is continuing,” Khadr writes in the affidavit. It’s all about him.

Of course, family is complicated. It’s possible to have family members commit heinous crimes or for them to hold dreadful and despicable views and still love them. But it’s also not unreasonable for the public to expect you to acknowledge that those crimes, those views, are wrong. We haven’t really seen this from Khadr.

To be exceedingly generous here, I don’t expect Khadr to totally throw his kith and kin under the bus. But I don’t think it’s unreasonable to demand he offer some sort of a hat tip to the fact that Zaynab is an undesirable character before we make it easier for him to communicate with her. After all, her sketchy views and past is the reason he’s not allowed to speak alone with her in the first place. Even the pro-Omar, child soldier crowd can’t be blind to this obvious problem.

In a CBC documentary from 2015, Toronto Star correspondent Michelle Sheppard suggests that what the adult Omar wishes he could do is have a conversation with his now deceased father, to challenge him about why he sent his son out into battle.

That’s a reasonable point to make. Maybe he does feel that way. The only problem is Khadr himself, who also appears in the documentary, doesn’t seem to make this point.

Last year, during another CBC appearance, Khadr is directly asked this question – if he’s angry about his family having first put him in this position – and he declines to answer the question.

“It’s tough sometimes. But it’s family, you know?” he says.

Yes, we all know. Family is complicated. That’s not enough though.

He’s asking for bail restrictions to be eased to talk to a sister who approved of 9/11. He’s going to have to do better than that.

He’s going to have to clearly and firmly distance himself from his family’s extremism. Until then, he shouldn’t expect any further leniency from the courts and he certainly shouldn’t expectation any from the public.</s>Why didn’t you take the money and just disappear?

This time, the former Guantanamo Bay detainee wants to be granted a Canadian passport to travel to Saudi Arabia and permission to speak to his controversial sister.

WATCH above as Anthony Furey puts Khadr’s latest request in perspective in a new episode of Furey Factor.

What do you think?

Tweet and Facebook us your thoughts!

And don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube Channel.</s></s></s></s>If you’re still paying for an extended Sears warranty, you’re not the only one.

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The old Sears credit cards are now owned by ScotiaBank, which told the CBC it has no obligations to service the warranties.

 

 Omar Khadr looking for changes to bail conditions

He will be asking an Edmonton court on Thursday to alter his bail conditions to also allow him to speak to his sister.

Khadr is on bail while he appeals U.S. war crime convictions stemming from a since retracted confession that, when he was 15-years-old, he threw a grenade in Afghanistan that killed an American soldier in 2002.

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Former Guantanamo Bay detainee Omar Khadr asks for a Canadian passport to travel to Saudi Arabia and speak with his sister Zaynab Khadr.