Guantanamo judge drops Canadians charges

The military judge presiding at Omar Khadr's war crimes tribunal dismissed all the charges against the young Canadian.

The military judge presiding at Omar Khadr's war crimes tribunal dismissed all the charges against the young Canadian on Monday because he did not meet the definition of those subject to trial under a new law.

Army Col. Peter Brownback said a military review board had labeled Khadr an "enemy combatant" during a 2004 hearing in Guantanamo.

But the Military Commissions Act adopted by the U.S. Congress in 2006 said only "unlawful enemy combatants" could be tried in the Guantanamo tribunals. Brownback said Khadr did not meet that strict definition.

He dismissed the charges, but left open the possibility that charges could be re-filed if Khadr went back before a review board and was formally classified as an "unlawful enemy combatant."

Khadr, who was captured in a firefight in Afghanistan at age 15, was accused of killing a U.S. soldier with a grenade and wounding another in a battle at a suspected al Qaeda compound in Afghanistan in 2002.

He was also charged with conspiracy and providing material support for terrorism along murder, attempted murder and spying, for allegedly conducting surveillance of U.S. military convoys in Afghanistan.

Khadr sported a tan prison uniform and a shaggy beard during the brief hearing.

One of the prosecutors, Army Capt. Keith Petty, said Khadr clearly met the definition of an "unlawful" combatant because he fought for al Qaeda, which was not part of the regular, uniformed armed forces of any nation.

He said he was prepared to produce a video of Khadr wearing civilian clothes while planting a roadside bomb, as evidence he was an unlawful combatant.

Brownback said the 2006 law authorizing the tribunals made a distinction between "lawful" and "unlawful" combatants and he could not proceed unless Khadr was formally declared to be the latter.

Congress wrote the law after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down an earlier version of the tribunals established by President George W. Bush to try terrorism suspects at Guantanamo.

Brownback said he was bound to strictly follow the new rules as Congress wrote them.

"This isn't what people complained about before, this isn't the president making up the rules," Brownback said.