U.S. memo shows Canadian government knew of Khadr plea

The diplomatic note flatly contradicts repeated government denials that Ottawa was not involved in a deal to bring Khadr home to Canada.

Two days before Omar Khadr pleaded guilty to war crimes at a Guantanamo Bay military commission, rumours began to circulate that there were high-level talks between the Ottawa and Washington to ensure that he would serve part of his sentence in Canada. Yesterday Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon was still denying any knowledge of a deal, but a U.S. memo sent to the Canadian government on Oct. 23 said a plea deal had been put in place that depended on both governments approving Khadr’s transfer to a Canadian prison after serving no less than one year at Guantanamo. Yesterday Khadr was sentenced to a symbolic 40 years in prison, but his plea deal capped his term at eight years.