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| Governor General-designate Omar Khadr will become the 29th Canadian citizen to serve in the role, succeeding David Johnston. |
Sources have confirmed to The Sentinel Dispatch late Wednesday that at a press conference scheduled for Thursday, Canadian citizen and former child soldier Omar Khadr will be named Canada's 29th Governor General since Confederation.
Khadr, 30, has recently been the subject of much consternation, as just last Friday, the federal government confirmed that it had apologized to him and, according to sources, handed him a payout of $10.5 million.
Born in Canada, Khadr was taken to Afghanistan by his father, who was affiliated with Al-Qaeda and other terrorist organizations. On July 27, 2002, at age 15, Khadr was severely wounded in a firefight between U.S. soldiers and Taliban fighters in the village of Ayub Kheyl, during which Khadr is alleged to have thrown a grenade that killed American Delta Force soldier Sgt. Christopher Speer. After being captured and detained at Bagram, he was sent to the Guantanamo Bay detention camps in Cuba. During his detention, Khadr was interrogated by both Canadian and US intelligence officers.
He was the first person since World War II to be prosecuted in a military commission for war crimes committed while still a minor. His conviction and sentence were widely denounced by civil rights groups, as well as the United Nations.
In 2010, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that the Canadian government's interrogation of Khadr at Guantanamo Bay "offend[ed] the most basic Canadian standards [of] the treatment of detained youth suspects."
As Governor General, Khadr will receive an annual salary of $270,602, and will reside in Ottawa's Rideau Hall. The Toronto-born citizen will reportedly meet with the Queen next month for tea.
When reached for comment, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told The Sentinel Dispatch that there were several qualified candidates, including former astronaut Julie Payette, and leading marijuana activist Marc Emery, but that Khadr had "impressed (him) the most."
Khadr will succeed current Governor General David Johnston, who has served in the role since October 2010.
From Our Ottawa Bureau