Keep Omar Khadr out of Canada, says online petition

One of Omar Khadr's former neighbours is not happy the convicted young terrorist may be coming back to Canada.

Shobhna Kapoor of Toronto, Ont., has launched a petition asking the federal government not to go through with plans to allow Khadr's transfer to a Canadian prison from Guantanamo Bay.

"His family lives in my neighbourhood," Kapoor told the Toronto Sun. "I am worried about him returning since it can rekindle a Canadian branch of al-Qaida."

Khadr has been locked up in Guantanamo prison, located on a U.S.-controlled piece of Cuba since 2002. He was captured by American soldiers in Afghanistan at age 15.

The son of al-Qaida financier Ahmed Khadr pleaded guilty in 2010 to murdering an army medic by tossing a grenade in the firefight that led to his capture after he was badly wounded.

A military tribunal sentenced him to 40 years in prison, but under the plea agreement he would only have to serve eight. After spending an additional year in Guantanamo, Khadr became eligible to serve out the remainder of his sentence in Canada, which could conceivably lead to an earlier parole.

A couple of weeks ago, Public Safety Canada officials confirmed they had received an application for Khadr's transfer. Postmedia News reported a Canadian source familiar with the file said the Americans were desperate to get rid of him.

Khadr's fate has always deeply divided Canadians. Some see him as a child soldier brainwashed by his terrorist father, who died in a 2003 attack by Pakistani forces. The same attack wounded the prisoner's older brother, Abdul Karim Khadr.

Another brother, Abdurahman, spent a year in Guantanamo before returning to Canada in 2003, while eldest brother Abdullah was arrested in Pakistan on suspicion of helping al-Qaida acquire weapons. He returned to Canada in 2005 and was jailed while fighting a U.S. extradition request, which was quashed by the courts.

Opponents say Omar Khadr's youth doesn't absolve him of murder or merit a potential early return to Canada's streets.

Recently, CBC News posted this question: "Should Omar Khadr be allowed to return to Canada?" About 53 per cent of responders answered yes, but 43 per cent said no.

But Kapoor claims he would become a magnet for would-be terrorists and a potential recruiting tool for al-Qaida in Canada.

"Khadr would be a role model for Canadian jihadists if he is released a free man," Kapoor told the Toronto Sun. "This is bad news for me and the community."

Kapoor had 270 names on her online petition when the Sun published its story Thursday. By Friday, the number had reached 1,000. Kapoor said Friday on her Facebook page she hoped the publicity would help put pressure on Public Safety Minister Vic Toews and Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird to cancel the transfer.

"Next step: Town Hall meeting," she said.