
Childhood photo of Omar |
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Omar Khadr |
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Tears roll down the cheeks of Maha Elsamnah Khadr during a news conference in Toronto 9th February 2005 as she listens to how her son Omar Khadr was treated at the hands of U.S. interrogators |
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Mrs. Khadr crying as she hears about son's torture |
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Khadr overwhelmed by stories of her teenage son's torture |
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Mother of Omar Khadr |
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Omar Khadr |
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Letters:
Letter from Omar to his brother, Abdul-Rahman, 11-10-04
Letter from Omar to his mother, 18-06-04
Letter from Omar to his mother, 09-10-04
Background:
Omar Khadr was born in 1986.
He is the son of Ahmad Said Khadr, Egyptian, who came to Canada from his native Egypt in 1977, and Maha, a Palestinian-Canadian.
He has three brothers, Abdullah, Abdul-Rahman (21), Abdul-Rahim (14), and two sisters, Zaynab (23) and one who is the younger than him.
Whilst born and raised in Canada, the family moved to Afghanistan in the 1990's, engaging in refugee work and establishing schools, to rebuild the country under the rule of the Taliban.
When the Americans began bombing Afghanistan, he went to Logar, East Afghanistan. After the Northern Alliance entered Kabul, Omar, now separated from his brother (In Kabul) and his family (who had fled to Pakistan) ended up at a suspected al-Qaeda base near Khost, Afghanistan, which was raided by American and Afghan troops in July 27, 2002. He allegedly killed an American medic with a hand grenade but was shot three times, captured and taken to Guantanamo. He lost one eye. He was 15 at the time of his arrest and has since been detained in Guantanamo Bay. There he has been denied medical treatment, due to his non-co-operation with his interrogators. He had an operation whilst in Afghanistan but remains in constant pain, without being treated with painkillers.
Abdul-Rahman, his brother, was also held at Guantanamo Bay from early 2003 until July 2003. He returned to Canada in November 2003. He admitted several months later to having been recruited into the CIA on his arrest in Afghanistan, and informing on his family, and al-Qaeda members in Guantanamo, Afghanistan and Bosnia-Herzegovinia.
His father was killed in a gun battle, with the Pakistani forces, in South Waziristan in October 2003. His younger brother, Abdul-Rahim, was shot in the firefight, in his spine, leaving him paralysed from the waist down.
His mother and sister remain in Pakistan, living off the charity of locals.
His elder brother remains in hiding in Pakistan. If he is captured it is probable that he will be sent to Guantanamo Bay.
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