Maclean’s magazine published a “world exclusive” story this week saying its writer viewed a complete transcript of a seven-hour interview between Khadr and Dr. Michael Welner, a forensic psychiatrist hired by the Pentagon’s prosecution team.
The full interview was provided in confidence to the government of Canada as it weighs Khadr’s request to transfer to a Canadian prison from Guantanamo Bay.
“Because of the importance of the relationship with Canada they got an un-redacted document that was secret and under court order,” a senior Obama administration official with knowledge of the case told the Toronto Star, on the condition of anonymity.
The official suggested it was a serious “breach of trust” that threatens to undermine U.S. confidence in Canada’s ability to maintain secrecy over confidential intelligence.
“Nobody else had access to it and days later it’s leaked to a publication none of us have heard of?” the U.S. official said.
“We’re just stunned.”
Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s office denied any knowledge of the source of the leak.
“We have no comment on the accuracy or inaccuracy of the Maclean’s article and do not know what sources the magazine relied on,” said Harper spokesman Andrew MacDougall.
“Access to the interview video is strictly controlled within the government of Canada,” he added.
The PMO would not say whether the government would undertake an investigation into the leak. The office of Public Safety Minister Vic Toews did not respond to the Star’s queries.
But Welner, the psychiatrist who conducted the interview, suggested the fault lies with Khadr’s legal defence team, if not with the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama.
In an emailed statement to the Star, Welner said he has not disclosed the transcript.
He claims the Maclean’s story is a “distortion” of the transcript.
“I am sure that were anyone interested in an accurate understanding of the interview, the interview itself would be released to the public to form its own impression,” he wrote.
Khadr’s Pentagon-appointed lawyer Army Lt.-Col. Jon Jackson said “No member of the defence team released the tape or transcript.”
“None of us have or ever would release classified information.”
According to Maclean’s, and the excerpts it published, Khadr may be a victim of torture as he has sworn to, but also appears as the “unrepentant and unconvincing” man that Welner characterized at trial.
Welner asks repeatedly whether Khadr was victimized by sexual abuse as a child or youth in Afghanistan, but Khadr refuses to discuss the possibility.
Nor would Khadr reveal details of his alleged torture at the hands of U.S. interrogators, referring only to his earlier affidavit laying out his claim.
However, Khadr is adamant that his now-dead father Ahmed Said Khadr was not an Al Qaeda operative. Rather, the young Khadr son says repeatedly, he was a “normal dad just trying to raise his children the right way.”
He says he wants to live close to his family in Toronto upon any eventual release in Canada.
The interview was conducted before Khadr pleaded guilty to five war crimes, including murder for the death of a U.S. soldier in a 2002 gunfight.
Khadr’s Canadian lawyers, John Norris and Brydie Bethell, said they have never been provided or seen the transcript or video.
Original Article
Source: the star
Author: Michelle Shephard and Tonda MacCharles
No comments:
Post a Comment