Gitmo's youngest detainee could head home

GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba, Feb. 9 (UPI) -- Omar Khadr, the youngest detainee and only Westerner held at the detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, might be leaving the prison soon, officials said.

Khadr, 22, a Canadian citizen, is charged with war crimes, including murder in the 2002 death of U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Christopher Speer in Afghanistan. He is accused of receiving training from al-Qaida and was allegedly caught on a surveillance video making and planting roadside bombs where U.S. troops traveled, CNN said.

Khadr could be sent back to Canada and set free, or he could be tried in the United States, where he would face life in prison. Defense attorneys content Khadr is a victim.

"Omar is not a threat," his attorney, Nathan Whitling, said. "He's a good kid, everyone agrees."

Retired Special Forces Sgt. Layne Morris scoffed at the nation Khadr is harmless.

"I just want to ask people, 'Do you have a short attention span?' "Morris was quoted as saying. "Would you have a short memory if you knew the background of these people?"