In the News True to Qaeda's Cause

January 21, 2009

“We are an Al Qaeda family.”
Abdurahman Khadr, brother of Guantanamo detainee Omar Khadr

As Guantanamo detainees go, Omar Khadr may or may not be high value, but right now he is definitely high profile. On instructions from President Obama, the judge presiding over Khadr's trial has halted the proceedings indefinitely, a first step toward the eventual dismantling of the facility.

Khadr is an intriguing figure -- a Canadian citizen, raised in the West, whose family moved back to Afghanistan, where he was arrested seven years ago, at age 15, for allegedly killing a U.S. soldier with a grenade. (His emotional interrogation at Guantanamo has found its way to the Internet -- the only one to have done so.)

In 2004, Canadian producer Terence McKenna came across young Omar while reporting a story for FRONTLINE on the Khadr family. McKenna's film, called Son of Al Qaeda, offers a rare glimpse of what life was like inside the insular world of Osama bin Laden. The film and supporting materials are available on the program Web site.

The brief excerpt on this page begins with Omar's brother, Abdurahman, who was disowned by the family for breaking with the Qaeda cause.