GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba – Vice President Dick Cheney's office may have leaked an incriminating video of a Canadian terror suspect facing a war-crimes trial, according to a claim filed by the suspect's lawyers in Guantanamo Bay military court.
Lawyers for Omar Khadr say the video, which apparently shows their client making a roadside bomb in Afghanistan, may have been leaked to the television program "60 Minutes" to counter publicity that has focused on legal setbacks in the case and descriptions of Khadr as a child soldier.
"60 Minutes" aired the tape in November.
Air Force Col. Morris Davis, former chief prosecutor-turned-critic of the Guantanamo tribunals, said Cheney's office may be the source of the video, according to the claim.
Cheney's office did not have any contact with "60 Minutes" on the matter and did not provide the tape, said spokeswoman Megan Mitchell.
A spokesman for "60 Minutes," Kevin Tedesco, also denied the allegation, saying the program had "absolutely no contact" with the vice president's office regarding the story.
Khadr, who was 15 when captured in Afghanistan in 2002, is expected to be one of the first to go to trial at the Guantanamo Bay military base, where the U.S. plans to prosecute about 80 detainees before military tribunals.
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