TORONTO - Omar Khadr's lawyers and opposition leaders called on the Harper government Wednesday to repatriate the Guantanamo Bay detainee.
Khadr is willing to face prosecution in Canada and undergo a period of transition away from his family under the guidance of an expert team, lawyer Dennis Edney said in Toronto, where he laid out a plan to bring Khadr back to Canada.
"I ask the government to accept our plan. It doesn't have to be the best plan, it doesn't have to be the only plan," Edney said.
"Call us, meet with us, we'll tailor, whatever it takes, but your obligation, Mr. Harper, is to bring Omar home and allow him to heal."
Edney's plea came as leaders from all three federal opposition parties released a letter to Prime Minister Stephen Harper and U.S. President Barack Obama urging them to agree to Khadr's return to Canada when they meet next week.
Toronto Liberal Bob Rae said Obama's visit to Ottawa on Feb. 19 is a golden opportunity to resolve the issue once and for all.
Khadr, a Canadian citizen, has been held at the U.S. prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, since he was wounded and captured by U.S. soldiers in a July 2002 firefight in Afghanistan.
Last month, Obama called a halt to the much maligned military-commission proceedings.
Pressure has been mounting on the Harper government to press the U.S. to return the only westerner still held at the infamous prison that Obama has ordered closed by early next year.
