The US military has removed a Navy defence lawyer from the case of a young Canadian terrorism suspect being held at the Guantanamo prison camp, a military official said on Saturday. Navy Lieutenant Commander William Kuebler had been serving as chief defence counsel for Omar Khadr, the last citizen of a western country held at the US naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Kuebler was removed from the job on Friday because his supervisor "believed it was in the absolute best interests of the client," Michael Berrigan, principal chief defence counsel for Guantanamo, said by email. Taking Kuebler off the case was "necessary to pursue a client-centred representation in full co-operation with" Khadr's Canadian defence team, Berrigan added.
Khadr was captured at age 15 and is accused of murdering a US soldier with a grenade during a firefight in Afghanistan in 2002. His lawyers have argued that he was a child soldier conscripted by his late father, an al Qaeda financier, and that any prosecution should take place in regular US or Canadian courts.
Khadr is now 22. Kuebler has been outspoken on behalf of Khadr and last August sued Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper in a bid to force him to intercede with Washington on Khadr's behalf.
US President Barack Obama has pledged to shut down the Guantanamo prison camp that was widely seen as a stain on the United States' human rights record and a symbol of detainee abuse and detention without charge under the administration of George W. Bush.
Obama now must decide what to do with Khadr and other detainees still at Guantanamo. Kuebler was reassigned to a job within the Navy's judge advocate general corps, Berrigan said. Kuebler could not immediately be reached on Saturday.