Omar Khadr bail application violates U.S. plea deal, Ottawa says

The federal government says Canadian courts have noauthority to grant Omar Khadr bail while he appeals his war crimesconviction in the United States.

And even if they do have the power, they should still refuse torelease him, the government argues in a new legal brief prepared inresponse to Khadr's bail application.

It also says that granting bail to Khadr would undermine public confidence in the justice system, subvert international law, anddamage Canada's relations with the U.S.

The document notes that Khadr pleaded guilty before a U.S.military commission in Guantanamo Bay and waived his right to appealthe conviction.

It also states his transfer to Canada to serve out his sentencewas done under a treaty that required the American legal proceedingsto have been final.

Ottawa says Khadr's bail application, which will be heard on March 24 and 25in Edmonton, constitutes a "direct violation" ofhis plea deal.

Twenty-eight-year-old Khadr, who has admitted to five war crimes-- committed as a 15-year-old in Afghanistan in July 2002 -- has saidhe only pleaded guilty to get out of Guantanamo.

Khadr has also applied for parole, which will be heard in June.