Omar Khar was sentenced today to 40 years in prison for murder, terrorism and spying by a military panel unaware that the confessed Canadian war criminal had agreed to plead guilty in exchange for a sentence capped at eight years and the chance to return to Canada after one more year in Guantanamo.
The shorter, plea-deal sentence will be the one imposed. The panel deliberated for nearly nine hours over two days. Tabitha Speer, widow of the special forces medic murdered by Mr. Khadr, then a 15-year-old, cheered when the 40-year sentence was read to the courtroom by panel’s president.