Khadr fires American lawyers
Decision leaves Guantanamo detainee with 2 Canadians to represent him
Last Updated: Thursday, May 31, 2007 | 10:04 AM ET
The Associated Press
Omar Khadr, the only Canadian held at the U.S. prison camp in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, has fired his American lawyers and will now only be represented by two Canadians.
His former military lawyer, U.S. marine Lt.-Col. Colby Vokey, confirmed he had been taken off the case on Wednesday.
He does not trust his American lawyers, Vokey said, adding that he does not blame Khadr, 20, for the decision.
Vokey said the U.S. is responsible for Khadr's interrogation and his treatment under a process that is "patently unfair."
Khadr is now represented by only two Canadian lawyers, Alberta-based Dennis Edney and Nate Whitling, who met with the Toronto-born detainee for the first time only last week.
Because U.S. war crimes tribunal rules forbid foreign lawyers from being the lead attorney at military commission hearings, it's unclear what role the Canadian lawyers will play in Khadr's upcoming trial.
Edney and Whitling only have approval from the Pentagon to act as "foreign attorney consultants" on Khadr's behalf, because they have not been cleared as full-level attorneys, Vokey told the Associated Press. Under new rules for military tribunals adopted last year, the detainee is permitted to represent himself.
Khadr was 15 when he was captured in a firefight in Afghanistan in which he allegedly killed a U.S. army special forces soldier with a grenade.
He is scheduled to be arraigned on Monday at the isolated base in southeast Cuba.
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