By Jane Sutton

GUANTANAMO BAY U.S. NAVAL BASE, Cuba, Nov 8 (Reuters) - A U.S. military judge who in June dismissed war crimes charges against a young Canadian prisoner at Guantanamo said on Thursday he was criticized by the Department of Defense over his ruling.

The topic arose as Toronto-born Omar Khadr appeared before a tribunal at the U.S. naval base in southeast Cuba on reinstated charges of murdering an American soldier in Afghanistan in 2002.

"The DOD people, they didn't like what I wrote," the judge, Army Col. Peter Brownback, said at the hearing.

Brownback did not specify who at the Defense Department had expressed displeasure or give other details.

Khadr's military lawyer, Lt. Cmdr. William Kuebler, questioned Brownback about his impartiality to preside over the case. He asked the judge if he recalled telling lawyers during an Oct. 24 conference call that he had "taken a lot of heat" for dismissing the charges, which were later reinstated.

"I may well have said something like that," Brownback said.

Khadr, a 21-year-old who has spent a quarter of his life at the Guantanamo detention and interrogation camp, appeared in court with a full, short beard and bushy sideburns. He wore a loose white tunic and pants, a camp uniform signifying he complies with camp rules. Those who misbehave wear orange.

AGE 15 WHEN CAPTURED

Khadr, the son of an alleged al Qaeda financier, was 15 years old when he was captured at a suspected al Qaeda compound in Afghanistan in 2002. He is accused of throwing grenades that killed U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Christopher Speer and wounded other coalition soldiers.

He is charged with murder, attempted murder, conspiring with al Qaeda, providing material support for terrorism and spying by conducting surveillance of U.S. military convoys in Afghanistan. Khadr faces life in prison if convicted.

The hearings resumed on Thursday for the first time since June, when Brownback dismissed all the charges against Khadr.

At the time, the judge said he lacked jurisdiction to hold the trial because Khadr had not been designated as an "unlawful enemy combatant" as required under the 2006 law that authorized military tribunals at Guantanamo for foreign terrorism suspects.

Brownback said the distinction was crucial because international law requires other types of trial for "lawful enemy combatants."

A newly convened military appeals court ruled that Brownback himself had authority to decide whether Khadr was an "unlawful" combatant and reinstated the charges. Brownback was to hear evidence on that issue at Thursday's court session.

Under questioning by Khadr's lawyer, Brownback acknowledged reading media reports that a White House spokesman had described the matter as "an issue of semantics" and that the chief prosecutor at the tribunals had recently resigned because "he thought the commissions were going down the wrong track."

Brownback said he often read press accounts of the tribunals and that "the great majority was unfavorable to the military commission system."

JUST ONE CONVICTION

The alternate legal system the Bush administration created to try non-American captives on terrorism charges after the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001 has been widely criticized.

There are about 320 prisoners held at Guantanamo, including about 80 whom U.S. military panels have cleared for release or transfer. About 450 other former Guantanamo captives have been released or transferred to other governments.

Only one prisoner has been convicted in the war crimes tribunals and that was the result of a plea bargain.

Australian David Hicks admitted training with al Qaeda and pleaded guilty in March to providing material support for terrorism. He was sent to Australia to serve a nine-month sentence that ends in late December.

AlertNet news is provided by