DECORATED SOLDIER FIGHTING TO KEEP FROZEN CANADIAN ASSETS FROM FAMILY OF AL QAEDA SUPPORTERS

mkl public relations | August 6, 2004 | mkl public relations

[mkl public relations]

DECORATED SOLDIER FIGHTING TO KEEP FROZEN CANADIAN FUNDS AND ASSETS FROM FAMILY OF AL QAEDA SUPPORTERS

Utah Reservist Filing Suit in Federal District Court against High Ranking al Qaeda Operative

Salt Lake City, UT. August 6, 2004. U.S. Special Forces Sgt. 1st Class Layne Morris and Tabitha Speer, widow of Sgt. 1st Class Christopher J. Speer, have retained the Salt Lake City law firms of Winder & Haslam and Burbidge & Mitchell and the Toronto law firm of Houser, Henry & Syron as counsel in a suit claiming serious injuries, including the loss of his right eye, suffered by Sgt. Morris and the wrongful death of Sgt. Speer in a firefight in Afghanistan with Omar Khadr, then a 15-year old member of al Qaeda and a Canadian citizen.

Donald J. Winder and Richard Burbidge will serve as lead counsel for Morris and Speer. The suit against Ahmed Said Khadr, Canadian citizen and high ranking al Qaeda operative, or his assets, will be filed today in Federal District Court, District of Utah, Central Division. The suit asserts Common Law (United States) parental responsibility for a child’s conduct.

Morris, recipient of the Bronze Star for bravery, served as a reservist for 19 years. The father of three sons and a daughter, he has resumed his post as West Valley City (Utah) Housing & Grants Administrator. Sgt. 1st Class Christopher J. Speer, a 28 year old medic who joined the U.S. Special Forces in 1990, had previously served in Rwanda, Kenya and Uganda. He leaves behind his wife and two children, ages five and three.

Omar Khadr is currently petitioning for release from the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, where he is being retained for his alleged role in the July 27, 2002 ambush. The only surviving al Qaeda fighter, Omar Khadr managed - in spite of being badly injured – to attack again, throwing a grenade that hit Sgt. Speer, who died several days later. Morris told the Boston Globe (March 2003), “That wasn’t a panicky teenager we encountered that day. That was a trained al Qaeda who wanted to make his last act on earth the killing of an American.”

In a National Post article, “Khadr tied to al-Qaeda as far back as 1988,” by Stewart Bell (February 1, 2003), Omar’s father, Egyptian-born Canadian citizen Ahmed Said Khadr, is described as a high-ranking al Qaeda member, who “had dealings with senior al Qaeda leaders while being financed by the Canadian International Development Agency.” Khadr is suspected of siphoning charity funds to bin Laden and Jihadists, and of serving as a chief terrorist recruiter. Previously in custody in Pakistan for the 1995 bombing of the Egyptian embassy in Islamabad that killed 17 people, Ahmed died in an attack last year in Pakistan.

The Khadr family’s recent remarks describing Ahmed as a martyr of Islam and their support for bin Laden and fundamentalist Islamic practices led Sgt. Morris to “continue my personal war on terrorism by filing this law suit. The Khadrs are Canadian citizens who take advantage of living in a democracy while fighting against it.” Added Sgt. Morris, “Our two objectives in claiming these assets are to prevent the Khadr family from getting the funds Omar’s father has raised for al Qaeda and to help support and educate Tabitha’s two young children.”

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