Omar Khadr war crime convictions questioned after U.S. court decision

An American court decision in the case of an allegedal-Qaeda recruiterFridayhas cast further doubt on the war crimesconvictions of Canada's Omar Khadr.

In its split ruling, the appeals court set aside the militarycommission conviction of Ali Hamza al-Bahlul, a Guantanamo Baydetainee who did media relations for Osama binLaden.

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In essence, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District ofColumbia Circuit ruled that the conspiracy case against al-Bahlulwas legally flawed because conspiracy is not a war crime similarto arguments Khadr has made. The commission only had jurisdiction totry internationally recognized war crimes, the court said.

The same court had earlier set aside two ofal-Bahlul'sother convictions because the offences he was convicted of werenotwar crimes at the time of his alleged actions.

Khadr's Pentagon-appointed lawyer was not immediately availableto comment, but one of his Canadian lawyers said the recent decisionundermines Khadr's conviction and his appeal should now be allowed.

"By implication, [the ruling]pretty much seals the deal withrespect to Omar's appeal," Nate Whitling said from Edmonton.

"This case clearly confirms that all five of Khadr's convictionsare invalid and must inevitably be overturned."

The Toronto-born Khadr was convicted of five war crimes inOctober 2010 after he pleaded guilty before a widely condemnedmilitary commission to offences he was accused of committing as a15-year-old in Afghanistan in 2002.

He is appealing the conviction on the grounds that the commissionhad no jurisdiction to try him because the offences with which hewas charged were not war crimes at the time. However, the commissionappeals court has refused to hear the case pending the outcome ofthe al-Bahlul challenge.

Whitling said the Court of Military Commission Review should nowget on with hearing Khadr's challenge given that the al-Bahul casehas been decided.

"That abeyance has now expired," Whitling said. "They shouldmake a decision on the merits."

Khadr released on bail

Khadr, 28, who returned to Canada in 2012 to serve out hiseight-year sentence, was released on bail last month into thecustody of Edmonton lawyer Dennis Edney pending the outcome of hisAmerican appeal.

The Canadian government, which brands him a dangerous terrorist,is still fighting to put him back behind bars and appealing the baildecision.

The U.S. government has conceded that Khadr's offences were notinternational war crimes, but has maintained he violated domesticcommon law dating to the Civil War.

While the al-Bahlul ruling does not speak directly to Khadr'sother convictions such as murder and attempted murder, Whitling saidthe same legal logic applies the military commission had nojurisdiction to try him.

U.S. courts had previously rejected another of the offences forwhich Khadr was convicted in a case against one of bin Laden'sdrivers: material support for terrorism.

The system of military commissions was created by theadministration of former president George W. Bush after the Sept. 11attacks on the U.S.

President Barack Obama's administration had argued Congress actedwithin its authority in making conspiracy a crime that could betried by military commission.

The American government could still try to appeal the al-Bahluldecision to the Supreme Court.