A plea deal that would reportedly keep a Guantanamo prisoner in custody for eight more years isn't sitting well with a key witness against him: a former Army sergeant who was partially blinded and lost a friend in the firefight that led to the alleged al-Qaida militant's capture.
Layne Morris said Friday that Canadian-born Omar Khadr should get at least 20 years in prison, and perhaps much longer.
"They ought to lock him up until he's no longer a threat, and if that's for the rest of his life, so be it," Morris said in an interview with The Associated Press a day after Khadr's lawyers disclosed they were negotiating a possible plea deal.
Khadr, who was 15 when he was captured following the firefight in Afghanistan in 2002, was originally scheduled to go on trial Monday at the U.S. base in Cuba. He faces war crimes charges that include murder for allegedly throwing a grenade that killed Army Sgt. 1st Class Christopher Speer, a special forces medic from Albuquerque, New Mexico. If convicted, he faces a maximum life sentence.
The trial began in August but was put on hold when Khadr's defense lawyer fell ill and collapsed in the courtroom.
With plea talks under way, a military judge postponed the resumption of the trial, the first at Guantanamo under President Barack Obama. The war crimes tribunal is scheduled to reconvene Oct. 25 - but that could turn into a sentencing hearing if an agreement is reached.
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