NAVAL BASE, Cuba (Reuters) – Six days before a young Canadian lobbed a fatal grenade at a U.S. soldier, that soldier had run into a minefield and rescued two injured Afghan children, the U.S. war crimes tribunal at the Guantanamo Bay naval base learned on Wednesday.

The military jurors who will sentence Toronto native Omar Khadr heard testimony about the special forces medic Khadr admitted murdering during a firefight in Afghanistan, U.S. Sergeant 1st Class Christopher Speer.

“Chris risked his own life and his opportunity to go back to his children because there were two Afghan children who had been injured in an active minefield,” a colleague and friend identified only as Sergeant Major Y testified. “Chris went into that active minefield and rescued those children.”

Speer was posthumously awarded the Soldier’s Medal, which commemorates acts of heroism, he said, stopping his testimony several times to breathe deeply and hold back tears.

The incident occurred on July 21, 2002, six days before Speer’s unit engaged in a firefight at a compound where the then-15-year-old Khadr lived and worked with a group of al Qaeda bomb-makers.

In his guilty plea on Monday, Khadr admitted he threw the grenade that hurled shrapnel into Speer’s brain, becoming the fifth prisoner convicted in the much-criticized tribunals at the Guantanamo Bay naval base and the first person since World War Two prosecuted in a war crimes tribunal for acts committed as a juvenile.

Speer died 12 days later at a military hospital in Germany, a loss that fellow soldiers said devastated their unit.

NAVAL BASE, Cuba (Reuters) – A Canadian who admitted he was a teen terrorist has grown more dangerous after being “marinated in radical jihadism” at the Guantanamo detention camp, a psychiatrist told a U.S. war crimes tribunal on Tuesday.

Toronto native Omar Khadr pleaded guilty on Monday to all five terrorism charges against him, including conspiring with al Qaeda to commit terrorist acts and murdering a U.S. soldier with a grenade during an Afghanistan firefight.

Now 24, he was captured at age 15 and has been locked up with adult prisoners at the Guantanamo Bay U.S. naval base in Cuba for more than eight years. At his sentencing hearing, the U.S. military jury heard from a forensic psychiatrist hired by prosecutors to meet with Khadr and assess his dangerousness.

The witness, Dr. Michael Welner, described Khadr as the angry and remorseless favorite son of a senior al Qaeda member, and as held in high esteem by other prisoners because he killed a U.S. soldier.

Welner said Khadr had been “steeped and marinaded in radical jihadism” among fellow captives at Guantanamo. Khadr memorized the Koran, grew more dangerous and devout and became a highly sought-after prayer leader, he said.

“He is the rock star at Gitmo,” Welner said, referring to the navy base by its nickname.

Khadr’s guilty plea made him the first person since World War Two convicted in a war crimes tribunal for acts committed as a juvenile. His lawyers argued unsuccessfully that he was a child soldier who should be rehabilitated rather than prosecuted.

NAVAL BASE, Cuba (Reuters) – A Canadian who admitted he was a teen terrorist told U.S. interrogators where they could find and disable the roadside bombs he planted in Afghanistan, a U.S. war crimes tribunal learned on Tuesday.

But when he was angry with his U.S. jailers at the Bagram base in Afghanistan, the then 15-year-old Omar Khadr consoled himself with the knowledge he had killed an American soldier with a grenade, tribunal jurors at the U.S. Guantanamo Bay naval base in Cuba learned at his sentencing hearing.

“Khadr indicated that when he would get pissed off with the guards at Bagram, he would recall his killing of the U.S. soldier and it would make him feel good,” Khadr acknowledged in a stipulation of guilt that a prosecutor read to the military jury.

Khadr, now 24, pleaded guilty on Monday to all five charges against him, making him the first person since World War Two to be convicted in a war crimes tribunal for acts committed as a juvenile.

His lawyers argued unsuccessfully that he was a child soldier who should be rehabilitated rather than prosecuted.

Khadr could have faced life in prison if convicted on all counts during a contested trial.

He admitted conspiring with al Qaeda to commit terrorist acts, making and planting roadside bombs in Afghanistan and murdering U.S. Sergeant 1st Class Christopher Speer with a grenade during a battle in which Khadr himself was blinded in one eye and shot twice in the back.

NAVAL BASE, Cuba (Reuters) – Canadian captive Omar Khadr pleaded guilty on Monday to all five terrorism charges against him in the U.S. war crimes tribunal at the Guantanamo Bay naval base as part of a deal that would limit his sentence.

Khadr, who was captured in Afghanistan at age 15 and is now 24, admitted he conspired with al Qaeda and killed a U.S. soldier with a grenade in Afghanistan. Before finalizing the plea, the judge said he would question Khadr to ensure the defendant understood he was waiving his right to appeal.

Terms of the plea deal were not immediately disclosed, but lawyers had reportedly discussed an agreement that would let Khadr serve one more year at Guantanamo and then seven years in Canada.

The plea deal would end a widely criticized trial that made the United States the first nation since World War Two to prosecute someone in a war crimes tribunal for acts allegedly committed as a juvenile.

Khadr is the second man to plead guilty in the tribunal during the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama, whose efforts to close the detention camp have been blocked by Congress. He is the fifth captive convicted since the United States established the tribunals to try foreign captives on terrorism charges after the September 11 attacks in 2001.

(Editing by Philip Barbara)

NAVAL BASE, Cuba (Reuters) – Canadian captive Omar Khadr strolled across the sun-baked yard in one of the communal camps at the Guantanamo Bay U.S. detention center in Cuba, clearly aware that journalists were staring at him through the fence.

But under the strict “gawk but don’t talk” rule that governs media and prisoner encounters at Guantanamo, any member of the media who tries to talk to a prisoner can be expelled from the U.S. military base.

So none of the sweaty journalists shouted out the question on all their minds — “Omar, are you going to take the deal?”

Khadr is scheduled to return to the Guantanamo war crimes tribunal on Monday to reveal whether he will plead guilty or continue with his trial on charges that include conspiring with al Qaeda and killing a U.S. soldier in a firefight.

Khadr was 15 when captured in the rubble of a bombed-out al Qaeda compound in Afghanistan and has spent more than eight years at Guantanamo. He first entered the hilltop courtroom as a pimple-faced teen but is now a broad-shouldered and bushy-bearded 24-year-old who towers above many of his guards.

His lawyers said they were trying to negotiate a plea agreement but won’t comment publicly on reports the deal would let him serve one more year at Guantanamo, followed by seven years in his native Canada.

The U.S. and Canadian governments would both have to agree to any such deal. Both sides said U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke on Friday with Canadian Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon, but neither would say whether they discussed the Khadr case.

NAVAL BASE, Cuba (Reuters) – Canadian captive Omar Khadr strolled across the sun-baked yard in one of the communal camps at the Guantanamo Bay U.S. detention center in Cuba, clearly aware that journalists were staring at him through the fence.

But under the strict “gawk but don’t talk” rule that governs media and prisoner encounters at Guantanamo, any member of the media who tries to talk to a prisoner can be expelled from the U.S. military base.

So none of the sweaty journalists shouted out the question on all their minds — “Omar, are you going to take the deal?”

Khadr is scheduled to return to the Guantanamo war crimes tribunal on Monday to reveal whether he will plead guilty or continue with his trial on charges that include conspiring with al Qaeda and killing a U.S. soldier in a firefight.

Khadr was 15 when captured in the rubble of a bombed-out al Qaeda compound in Afghanistan and has spent more than eight years at Guantanamo. He first entered the hilltop courtroom as a pimple-faced teen but is now a broad-shouldered and bushy-bearded 24-year-old who towers above many of his guards.

His lawyers said they were trying to negotiate a plea agreement but won’t comment publicly on reports the deal would let him serve one more year at Guantanamo, followed by seven years in his native Canada.

The U.S. and Canadian governments would both have to agree to any such deal. Both sides said U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke on Friday with Canadian Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon, but neither would say whether they discussed the Khadr case.

MIAMI (Reuters) – A U.S. military judge on Thursday postponed the Guantanamo war crimes trial of a Canadian prisoner captured in Afghanistan at age 15 while his lawyers tried to reach a deal for him to plead guilty in exchange for leniency.

A military tribunal had been set to resume on Monday at the Guantanamo Bay U.S. naval base for Toronto-born Omar Khadr. But the judge delayed it for a week, to October 25, the Pentagon announced.

A plea deal would end a widely criticized trial that made the United States the first nation since World War Two to prosecute someone in a war crimes tribunal for acts allegedly committed as a juvenile.

Khadr is accused of murdering a U.S. soldier with a grenade during a battle in Afghanistan in 2002, when Khadr was 15 years old.

“There are negotiations going on but there’s no deal and we’re not commenting on the details,” one of Khadr’s Canadian attorneys, Nate Whitling, told Reuters.

The Ottawa Citizen newspaper said the plea deal would allow Khadr, now 24, to serve an eight-year sentence, seven of them in Canada. He was sent to Guantanamo shortly after he turned 16 and has already spent more than eight years there with adult prisoners.

He could face life in prison if found guilty in military court.

MIAMI (Reuters) – U.S. and Canadian lawyers are trying to reach an agreement for a Toronto-born Guantanamo prisoner captured at age 15 to plead guilty to terrorism charges in exchange for leniency, one of his lawyers said on Thursday.

A plea deal would end a widely criticized military trial set to resume on Monday at the Guantanamo Bay U.S. naval base in Cuba.

Omar Khadr is accused of murdering a U.S. soldier with a grenade during a battle in Afghanistan in 2002, when Khadr was 15 years old. He is the first person since World War Two to face prosecution in a war crimes tribunal for acts allegedly committed as a juvenile.

“There are negotiations going on but there’s no deal and we’re not commenting on the details,” one of Khadr’s Canadian attorneys, Nate Whitling, told Reuters.

The Ottawa Citizen newspaper said the plea deal would allow Khadr, now 24, to serve an eight-year sentence, seven of them in Canada. He was sent to Guantanamo shortly after he turned 16 and has already spent more than eight years there with adult prisoners.

He could face life in prison if found guilty in military court.

Any deal would require agreement from U.S. military prosecutors and the governments of Canada and the United States. U.S. military officials declined to comment.

MIAMI (Reuters) – The death toll from former Tropical Storm Nicole rose to 12 in Jamaica and four in the United States on Thursday and forecasters said the storm’s remains would hit like a hurricane on the U.S. Atlantic Coast from the Carolinas to New England.

Nicole was a minimal tropical storm for just six hours on Wednesday, but the broad, ragged system poured heavy rain on Jamaica, the Cayman Islands, Cuba, south Florida and the Bahamas.

The storm’s remnants were moving up the U.S. East Coast and were forecast to bring gusting winds, pounding surf and coastal flooding to the region.

“The effects will be similar to that of a hurricane from eastern North Carolina to New England,” private forecaster AccuWeather said in an advisory.

“The soggy ground and high winds will cause fully leafed trees to easily topple and soggy branches to fall, taking power lines with them.”

Four people died in North Carolina on Thursday after their vehicle hydroplaned on U.S. Highway 64 and went into a canal in the rain-soaked eastern portion of the state, officials told Reuters.

Three of the occupants died in the accident and a fourth, a child, died later, a spokeswoman for the Washington County Sheriff’s department said.

MIAMI (Reuters) – Jamaica’s death toll from Tropical Storm Nicole rose to 12 on Thursday and forecasters said the storm’s remains would hit like a hurricane on the U.S. Atlantic Coast from the Carolinas to New England.

Nicole was a minimal tropical storm for just six hours on Wednesday, but the broad, ragged system poured heavy rain onto Jamaica, the Cayman Islands, Cuba, south Florida and the Bahamas.

The storm’s remnants were moving up the U.S. East Coast on Thursday and were forecast to bring gusting wind, pounding surf and coastal flooding to the region.

“The effects will be similar to that of a hurricane from eastern North Carolina to New England,” private forecaster AccuWeather said in an advisory.

“The soggy ground and high winds will cause fully leafed trees to easily topple and soggy branches to fall, taking power lines with them.”

The storm was churning up the seas around the barrier islands of North Carolina’s Outer Banks, and transport officials suspended ferry service on some routes on Thursday.

In mountainous Jamaica, three days of torrential rain form the system caused flash flooding that killed a dozen people. Eight more were missing and feared dead.