Omar Khadr asks to return to Canada from Gitmo

He is still in Guantanamo, attorney John Norris told AFP. But we have submitted an application (for his repatriation to Canada) and we understand that the process is underway.A US military tribunal sentenced Khadr to 40 years in prison in October 2010 after he pleaded guilty to throwing a grenade that killed a US sergeant in Afghanistan in 2002. He was only 15 at the time.But a plea deal meant his actual sentence was only eight years -- including a provision that he could seek a transfer to Canada after an initial year at Guantanamo. That year ended on Monday.Weve reached that milestone, said Norris.Washington must first give its approval for the transfer, and then Ottawa would consider the request. Both gave tacit approval as part of the plea deal, but did not commit themselves to when they would make that decision.Were hopeful that will happen very soon, Norris said.Canadian legal scholars suggested Ottawa might seek assurances from Khadr that he will not launch any further legal challenges in a bid to seek earlier release, before agreeing to his transfer to a Canadian prison.Mike Patton, spokesman for Public Safety Minister Vic Toews, said the case would be reviewed solely on its merits, like any other international prisoner transfer.Im not aware of any objections to Khadrs repatriation, he added, but noted that a decision could take up to 18 months.We dont have any inside information, but nobody has identified any obstacles to us, said Norris. The bureaucracy may need some time to move. Were hopeful it will move quickly in this case.Khadr hired Norris and Brydie Bethell to represent him after firing Canadian civil rights lawyers Dennis Edney and Nathan Whitling in August, signaling a possible change in legal strategy.Edney and Whitling had worked on Khadrs case pro bono for nearly eight years, even paying for their own transportation to Guantanamo.It was on their advice that he agreed to plead guilty to the charges in order to leave Guantanamo sooner.Born in Toronto in 1986 to a family of militants, Khadr was a beardless teenager when he was captured while severely wounded in Afghanistan. Today, at 25, he is a tall man with a heavy beard and a scarred face.