According to official sources here, Omar Khadr, a 16-year-old Canadian, was arrested on July 27, 2002, after a firefight with US troops near Khost in Afghanistan. The US military contends Khadr was the only Al-Qaeda fighter to survive the 4 1/2-hour skirmish, and that he hurled a grenade that wounded Sgt. Christopher James Speer, who later died.

After nearly three months of questioning in Afghanistan, Khadr was moved to a US military prison camp in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in October, where he is being held along with more than 620 other detainees from the Afghan conflict.

His father, Ahmed Said Khadr, an Egyptian-born Canadian citizen, has been linked by US intelligence to Osama Bin Laden. The father’s whereabouts are not known.

Last week Canada was allowed access to Khadr after months of negotiation with US authorities. A Canadian diplomat from the intelligence directorate at the Foreign Affairs Department visited Khadr in Guantanamo.

Foreign Affairs Department spokesperson Reynald Doiron confirmed the report of a government official’s meeting with Khadr a few days ago but did not give further details.

Canada has appealed to the US to take Khadr’s youth into consideration, suggesting he may have been recruited as a “child soldier.” There has been no clarification on whether Khadr could face the death penalty if prosecuted.