#Canada - Don't Welcome back terrorist Khadr

The bureaucratic process has begun to bring Omar Khadr back to Canada.

Brydie Bethell, one of Khadr's Canadian lawyers, confirmed Friday the application had been made to repatriate the 25-year-old.

The process is reportedly now in the hands of the Correctional Service of Canada.

Khadr pleaded guilty last October to five charges - murder, attempted murder, supporting terrorism, spying and conspiracy.

The plea deal he signed following his trial in Guantanamo Bay has him serving eight years behind bars.

Under the bargain, he was allowed to apply to serve the last seven years of his sentence in Canada.

The Correctional Service and the U.S. government have to sign off on the transfer. It's then up to Public Safety Minister Vic Toews to give the final OK to repatriate Khadr.

"The minister has a fair bit of discretion in this," Toews' spokesman Mike Patton said, referring to the general process of prisoner transfer, not Khadr's case specifically.

It takes, on average, 18 months for a prisoner transfer process to be completed, Patton noted.

Khadr was 15 years old when he threw a grenade that killed U.S. special forces Sgt. Christopher Speer in Afghanistan in 2002.

A diplomatic note between Canada and the U.S. included in last year's plea deal said Ottawa will review Khadr's transfer application "favourably."