The US prison base in Cuba has been highly controversial [EPA]

The video, released on Tuesday, shows Omar Khadr, a Canadian accused of killing a US soldier in Afghanistan, crying as agents of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) question him.

In the tape, apparently shot from a ventilation shaft, Khadr is asked what he knows about al-Qaeda and questioned about his Islamic faith.

The footage from February, 2003  covers seven and a half hours of questioning over three days of Khadr, who was just 15 years old when he was captured in Afghanistan in 2002.

At times, Khadr weeps uncontrollably and pulls at his hair in despair.

A 10-minute tape was initially posted on the internet and a complete version was due to be issued later on Tuesday by Khadr's lawyers, following Canadian court orders.

At one point, an interrogator tries to calm Khadr, who is clearly distraught, saying he needs to get a "bite to eat" and adding: "I understand this is stressful."

When Khadr complains his compatriots have not helped his case, an interrogator replies: "We can't do anything for you."

The 10-minute video shows no beating or physical abuse of Khadr. But he is seen showing his interrogators wounds he claimed were sustained on being tortured.

In the video, Khadr is heard screaming at one point: "Kill me, Kill".

'Softened up'

Khadr, now 21,  remains behind bars at Guantanamo. The video's release comes after Canadian media reported that government documents showed Khadr was forcibly deprived of sleep by his US captors in Guantanamo to soften him up for questioning.  

Citing government files released by court order, Canadian media said Khadr was moved to a different cell every three hours to make him more amenable to talking in what US authorities described as their "frequent-flyer programme".

"At three-hour intervals he is moved to another cell block, thus denying him uninterrupted sleep and a continued change of neighbours," said the report from the foreign intelligence division of Canada's foreign affairs department, quoted by Canadian television and newspapers.

Khadr is the youngest detainee in the US "war on terror", accused of throwing a hand grenade that killed a US soldier in a clash in Afghanistan.

Khadr's mother and sister have publicly pleaded his innocence in Canada but another brother Abdullah is in a Toronto jail fighting extradition for conspiring to kill US forces in Afghanistan.

The father of the family Ahmed Said was an alleged al-Qaeda financier who died in a shootout with Pakistan forces in 2003 the same year another brother Abdurahman was released from Guantanamo.

Human rights groups have demanded Khadr be released because he was only 15 at the time of his capture.

But just last week the Canadian prime minister told reporters he would not ask the US government to repatriate him.

Khadr's lawyers say they hope the video will shame Canadian politicians into action.

Recommend this article...

Did you enjoy this article? Please bookmark it onto: