NAVAL BASE, Cuba (Reuters) – Canadian captive Omar Khadr was hooded, crying and chained to a door outside his cell in Afghanistan around the time he turned 16, a former U.S. medic testified on Monday in the Guantanamo war crimes tribunal.

The former Army medic, identified only as M, testified in a hearing to determine whether Khadr was coerced into confessing that he threw a grenade that killed a U.S. soldier in Afghanistan.

Khadr, now 23, was 15 when captured in a firefight at a suspected al Qaeda compound in Afghanistan in 2002 and would be the first person tried in a U.S. war crimes tribunal for acts allegedly committed as a minor. It would also be the first tribunal under a law President Barack Obama signed in 2009 banning the use of evidence obtained through inhumane treatment.

Medic M treated Khadr’s gunshot wounds and shrapnel injuries at the detention centre at the Bagram U.S. air base in Afghanistan between mid-August and late October 2002, during which time Khadr turned 16.

The medic described once finding Khadr standing in the entryway outside his cell with his hands chained to the metal-mesh door just above eye level.

“We pulled off the hood that was over his head and I asked him what was ailing him, if there was some type of medical issue he might be having,” the former medic testified by video link from an undisclosed location. “I then noted that he was crying.”

Khadr seemed frustrated and “not very cordial,” M said, adding, “I had never seen him like that before.”

NAVAL BASE, Cuba, April 30 (Reuters) – Guantanamo prisoner Omar Khadr chatted happily with a pretty, young U.S. interrogator because he thought cooperation would win him a speedy trip home to Canada, the interrogator told the U.S. war crimes tribunal on Friday. Defense lawyers are trying to convince a military judge that Khadr was illegally tortured into confessing and that his statements to interrogators should be banned from court. Toronto-born Khadr, 23, is scheduled for trial in July on charges of murdering a U.S. soldier with a grenade during a firefight in Afghanistan in July 2002, conspiring with al Qaeda and targeting U.S. forces with roadside bombs. He is the youngest of the 183 captives held at the detention camp for terrorism suspects at the Guantanamo Bay U.S. naval base in Cuba. Khadr was 15 when captured and would become the first person prosecuted in a U.S. war crimes tribunal for acts allegedly committed as a minor. A former navy interrogator who questioned him a dozen times at Guantanamo in late 2002 said there was no coercion. Khadr answered her questions because "He understood that if he was cooperative it would expedite his repatriation back to Canada," the woman identified in court as Agent No. 11 testified. Khadr was being considered for release back to Canada, her interrogation team wrote in a 2002 assessment. Instead the United States charged him with war crimes that could keep him locked up at Guantanamo or a U.S. prison for life. No. 11 said Khadr was an intelligent and friendly teen who always came to the interrogation booth with a smile on his face and chatted freely about the battle where he was captured and about the father he described as an al Qaeda money man. She quoted Khadr as telling her, "I would rather be in the booth with you than bored in my cell." MOTHERLY FIGURE The agent, a charismatic brunette who appeared to be in her mid-30s, said her team chief chose her to interrogate Khadr because he thought "I would be more of a mother figure to him, he would relate better to me." When Khadr’s military defense lawyer said she did not look old enough to have been a motherly figure eight years ago, she replied, "He was only 16 so it could have worked." No. 11 said she brought M&M candies and fig cookies to their sessions to build rapport but that Khadr was never promised treats or freedom in exchange for answering questions. Khadr claimed in a sworn statement that he was beaten, threatened with rape, doused in freezing water, chained in painful positions and subjected to a litany of abuse at the Bagram U.S. air base in Afghanistan and later at Guantanamo. He refused to attend his hearing on Friday because he felt guards had searched his pants for contraband in a humiliating manner, lawyers said. "He believes it comes too close to his genitalia in the way it’s being done," said defense attorney Barry Coburn. After a detailed discussion of the military’s procedure for conducting a waistband search, the military judge ruled the search was routine, Khadr’s absence was voluntary and the hearing could go on without him. (Editing by Mohammad Zargham)

NAVAL BASE, Cuba, April 30 (Reuters) – A Canadian prisoner refused to attend his hearing in the Guantanamo war crimes tribunal on Friday because he felt guards had searched his pants for contraband in a humiliating manner, lawyers said. "He believes it comes too close to his genitalia in the way it’s being done," said Barry Coburn, one of the lawyers for defendant Omar Khadr. After a detailed discussion of the military’s procedure for conducting a waistband search, the military judge ruled the search was routine, Khadr’s absence was voluntary and the hearing could go on without him. Khadr, 23, is charged in the U.S. war crimes tribunal at Guantanamo with murdering a U.S. soldier with a grenade during a firefight in Afghanistan in 2002, conspiring with al Qaeda and targeting U.S. forces with roadside bombs. This week’s hearing at the U.S. naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, is aimed at determining whether Khadr’s confessions to interrogators were voluntary. Khadr was 15 years old and badly wounded when some of the questioning took place. If the judge finds that the statements were obtained through torture, coercion or inhumane treatment, they cannot be used as evidence in Khadr’s trial. If the July trial of the Toronto-born Khadr goes forward, it would be the first U.S. war crimes tribunal to prosecute someone for acts allegedly committed as a minor. The hearing opened with a discussion of military procedure for conducting a waistband search. "Put the thumbs inside the waistband and shake it," explained Marine Captain Laura Bruzzese. Khadr told her Friday’s search had included unprecedented moving and shaking, which he considered humiliating, and therefore he refused to get into the van that would take him to court, she testified. Defense lawyers cast doubts Friday on the memory of an FBI agent who questioned Khadr in Afghanistan shortly after his capture, nearly eight years ago. Agent Robert Fuller said he had met with a military prosecutor and FBI officials over the past week to prepare his testimony. But he could not recall the name of an agent he met with nor could he remember whether an FBI lawyer was at a meeting four days ago. Fuller said he prepared by reviewing the summaries he had written just after his sessions with Khadr, known as 302 reports. "The unfortunate side effect is a lot more memorization of our 302s than recollection," Fuller said. (Editing by Eric Beech)

NAVAL BASE, Cuba (Reuters) – Prosecutors in the U.S. war crimes tribunal at Guantanamo replayed a video on Thursday showing Canadian prisoner Omar Khadr as a boy, learning to wire roadside bombs in Afghanistan.

“Allah willing, we’ll get a good number of Americans,” an adult tutor is heard saying in Arabic, according to the subtitled translation on the video.

The video was found in a tunnel under the mud-walled compound where Khadr was captured in Afghanistan in July 2002, when he was 15 years old. He is now 23 and has spent a third of his life locked behind the razor wire at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Defense lawyers want the video barred from court, alleging the military found it a month after Khadr’s capture using information he gave during interrogations laced with torture.

It was the second time the court has seen the video, which prosecutors want to use as evidence in Khadr’s July trial on charges of murdering a U.S. soldier with a grenade during a firefight in Afghanistan, conspiring with al Qaeda and targeting U.S. forces with roadside bombs.

The first showing came just before President Barack Obama took office in January 2009 and froze the tribunals at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo that he had called unfair. The tribunals are back in operation with a few new restrictions on hearsay and coerced evidence.

First up on Obama’s watch is the trial of Toronto-born Khadr, whose father allegedly apprenticed him to al Qaeda bomb makers. It would be the first U.S. war crimes tribunal to prosecute someone for acts allegedly committed as a minor.

NAVAL BASE, Cuba (Reuters) – A Canadian captive admitted throwing a grenade that killed a U.S. soldier in Afghanistan during an interview eight years ago that an FBI agent described on Wednesday as “comfortable” and “friendly,” once the hood and handcuffs were removed.

The FBI agent’s testimony kicked off the first substantive hearing in the U.S. war crimes tribunal at Guantanamo since President Barack Obama took office in January 2009.

A military judge will decide whether defendant Omar Khadr’s statements to interrogators were the illegal products of torture, as his lawyers claim, or voluntary confessions that can be used as evidence in his July murder trial.

“We never put our hands on Mr. Khadr,” testified FBI agent Robert Fuller, who questioned Khadr seven times at the Bagram U.S. air base in Afghanistan in October 2002.

Now 23, Khadr was 15 years old and badly wounded when captured during a firefight at a suspected al Qaeda compound near the Afghan city of Khost in July 2002. He has spent a third of his life locked up at Guantanamo and is accused of killing a U.S. special forces soldier with a grenade and making explosives for use against U.S. troops.

Fuller said guards escorted Khadr to an upstairs room in an old Russian aircraft hangar at Bagram, sat him on a plastic chair and removed his handcuffs and the cloth hood that covered his head before the FBI interviews began.

He said the sessions were friendly, comfortable and nonconfrontational, and included snacks and bathroom breaks.

NAVAL BASE, Cuba (Reuters) – A Canadian captive admitted throwing a grenade that killed a U.S. soldier in Afghanistan during an interview eight years ago that an FBI agent described on Wednesday as “comfortable” and “friendly,” once the hood and handcuffs were removed.

The FBI agent’s testimony kicked off the first substantive hearing in the U.S. war crimes tribunal at Guantanamo since President Barack Obama took office in January 2009.

A military judge will decide whether defendant Omar Khadr’s statements to interrogators were the illegal products of torture, as his lawyers claim, or voluntary confessions that can be used as evidence in his July murder trial.

“We never put our hands on Mr. Khadr,” testified FBI agent Robert Fuller, who questioned Khadr seven times at the Bagram U.S. air base in Afghanistan in October 2002.

Now 23, Khadr was 15 years old and badly wounded when captured during a firefight at a suspected al Qaeda compound near the Afghan city of Khost in July 2002. He has spent a third of his life locked up at Guantanamo and is accused of killing a U.S. special forces soldier with a grenade and making explosives for use against U.S. troops.

Fuller said guards escorted Khadr to an upstairs room in an old Russian aircraft hangar at Bagram, sat him on a plastic chair and removed his handcuffs and the cloth hood that covered his head before the FBI interviews began.

He said the sessions were friendly, comfortable and nonconfrontational, and included snacks and bathroom breaks.

NAVAL BASE, Cuba, April 28 (Reuters) – Lawyers in the Guantanamo tribunals have been trying to negotiate a deal that would let Canadian captive Omar Khadr plead guilty to reduced charges in exchange for leniency, a defense attorney said. A plea deal would spare President Barack Obama from presiding as military commander in chief over the first U.S. war crimes tribunal to prosecute someone for acts allegedly committed as a minor. Now 23, Khadr was 15 years old when captured and has spent a third of his life locked up at Guantanamo. He is accused of throwing a grenade that killed a U.S. special forces soldier during a firefight at a suspected al Qaeda compound near the Afghan city of Khost in July 2002. Defense lawyer Barry Coburn said on Tuesday evening that plea discussions were ongoing with prosecutors."As of right now there is no deal. We are always open to discussion and we’re hopeful of reaching a resolution," Coburn told reporters at Guantanamo. Khadr could be jailed for life if convicted on all five charges, which include murder and conspiring with al Qaeda. The Toronto Star newspaper said Khadr had rejected an offer that would have limited his sentence to five more years in custody at Guantanamo or a U.S. prison, citing unidentified sources. Toronto-born Khadr is accused of murdering U.S. Army Sergeant 1st Class Christopher Speer with a hand grenade during the battle in Afghanistan and making roadside bombs for use against U.S. forces. He is the youngest captive among the 183 held in the detention camp at Guantanamo, and the only one from a Western nation. At a hearing scheduled to begin on Wednesday at the remote Guantanamo Bay naval base in eastern Cuba, a U.S. military judge will decide whether Khadr’s alleged confessions to interrogators can be used as evidence against him at his trial in July. Defense lawyers say that during at least 142 interrogations in Afghanistan and Guantanamo, Khadr was beaten, doused in freezing water, spat on, chained in painful positions, forced to urinate on himself, terrorized by barking dogs, subjected to flashing lights and sleep deprivation and threatened with rape. Prosecutors contend Khadr was treated humanely and has fabricated the abuse allegations. Obama signed a new law in October 2009 that prohibits the use of evidence obtained through coercion and makes it harder to use hearsay evidence in the Guantanamo tribunals. But the Pentagon rule manual implementing the changes was only completed and signed by Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Tuesday night. Because of that, the judge at Guantanamo delayed the start of Wednesday’s hearing until the afternoon to give lawyers time to review the changes, Khadr’s military lawyer said. (Editing by Doina Chiacu)

NAVAL BASE, Cuba (Reuters) – While the Obama administration sorts out which Guantanamo prisoners to hold as terrorism suspects and which to repatriate or resettle, the captives have sorted themselves out by entertainment preferences, camp officials said on Tuesday.

“TV is a defining mark,” said Army Lieutenant Colonel Andrew McManus, deputy commander of detention operations. “The camps have arranged themselves along TV watchers and non-TV watchers.”

Journalists visiting the Guantanamo Bay U.S. naval base for hearings in the war crimes tribunal of Canadian captive Omar Khadr were offered a tightly controlled visit to some of the detention camps on Tuesday, after Khadr’s hearing was delayed until Wednesday to give lawyers more time to prepare.

The U.S. military holds 183 foreign captives at Guantanamo, which has held about 780 prisoners since the detention operation began in 2002.

In the last few years, the military has tried to encourage good behavior by granting privileges to those who obey camp rules. About 80 percent now live in two communal camps where they can eat together, attend classes, socialize and watch television in small groups during daytime hours, McManus said.

Journalists have never been permitted to speak to prisoners but have been allowed to observe them.

In one prison where captives used to be seen through the one-way glass pacing back and forth in one-man cells, prisoners were gathered in open bays on Tuesday, absorbed in watching a soccer game on a big-screen television.

NAVAL BASE, Cuba (Reuters) – While the Obama administration sorts out which Guantanamo prisoners to hold as terrorism suspects and which to repatriate or resettle, the captives have sorted themselves out by entertainment preferences, camp officials said on Monday.

“TV is a defining mark,” said Army Lieutenant Colonel Andrew McManus, deputy commander of detention operations. “The camps have arranged themselves along TV watchers and non-TV watchers.”

Journalists visiting the Guantanamo Bay U.S. naval base for hearings in the war crimes tribunal of Canadian captive Omar Khadr were offered a tightly controlled visit to some of the detention camps on Monday, after Khadr’s hearing was delayed until Tuesday to give lawyers more time to prepare.

The U.S. military holds 183 foreign captives at Guantanamo, which has held about 780 prisoners since the detention operation began in 2002.

In the last few years, the military has tried to encourage good behaviour by granting privileges to those who obey camp rules. About 80 percent now live in two communal camps where they can eat together, attend classes, socialize and watch television in small groups during daytime hours, McManus said.

Journalists have never been permitted to speak to prisoners but have been allowed to observe them.

In one prison where captives used to be seen through the one-way glass pacing back and forth in one-man cells, prisoners were gathered in open bays on Monday, absorbed in watching a soccer game on a big-screen television.

MIAMI (Reuters) – A military judge presiding over the first Guantanamo tribunal of the Obama era will seek to determine this week whether U.S. forces tortured a confession from a Canadian accused of murdering an American soldier in Afghanistan.

The judge will decide what evidence can be used against Omar Khadr, 23, one of six prisoners at the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo in eastern Cuba that the Obama administration has designated for trial by military tribunal.

The base’s detention center currently holds 183 captives.

Khadr, who was 15 when he was captured during a firefight at a suspected al Qaeda compound near the Afghan city of Khost in July 2002, has spent a third of his life locked up with adult prisoners at Guantanamo.

He could be jailed for life if convicted in the first war crimes tribunal since World War Two to prosecute someone for acts committed as a child.

President Barack Obama froze the tribunal prosecutions immediately after his inauguration in January 2009 to give his administration time to sort out what he has called “quite simply a mess” at Guantanamo.

The military prison was opened in 2002 under then-President George W. Bush to house suspected terrorists and has drawn international condemnation and criticism from human rights groups who say inmates have been abused and tortured.