Toronto: In his first public appearance after 13 years of imprisonment, "child soldier" Omar Khadr, captured in Afghanistan at the age of 15, thanked the citizens of Canada for their understanding and said "give me a chance and you will be surprised", Efe news agency reported.
Khadr, now 28, appeared before the media smiling and relaxed at the doors of his attorney Dennis Edney`s house, in the locality of Edmonton in western Canada, where he will live after being released on bail.
Before Khadr spoke, his lawyer reminded the media that "this is Omar`s first time out in society since the age of 15".
Khadr thanked the courts for releasing him and his lawyers and their families for all the work over a long period.
"I would like to thank the Canadian public for trusting me, and giving me a chance," he said.
"I will prove to them that I`m more than what they thought of me. I`ll prove to them that I`m a good person," he added in a calm voice.
Khadr, younger son of Ahmed Said Khadr (an Egyptian-Canadian considered one of the founding members of al Qaeda and close confidant of its former leader Osama bin Laden) was captured in Afghanistan in 2002 by US forces fighting the Taliban.
Khadr, the sole Taliban survivor of an encounter with US soldiers, was moved to Guantanamo Bay under the US Criminal Justice System in 2002, where he remained until 2012.
In 2010, after eight years at Guantanamo, Khadr admitted he had killed an American soldier in the battle in which he had been captured, and was sentenced to eight years in prison for war crimes.
But after relocating to Canada in 2012, Khadr denied his liability, claiming that statements professing his guilt were made after years of abuse and torture at Guantanamo.
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has on several occasions shown his disdain for Khadr, overlooking his age at the time of his capture and the circumstances of his confession.
Khadr also asked for forgiveness, saying: "I can just say that I`m sorry for the pain that I might (have) caused the families of the victims."
He added that "there is nothing I can do about the past but... I can do something about the future".
Khadr was also asked about his father.
"There`s a lot of questions I would like to ask my father right now... a lot of decisions that he made, reasons he took us back there, a whole bunch of questions about his reasoning, his life decisions," he said.
When asked about extremism, Khadr advised: "What I would tell anybody is to educate yourself. Don`t let emotions control you. Education is very important. I`ve noticed that a lot of people are manipulated by not being educated."
He also made it very clear that he no longer believed in violence and jihadi beliefs.
Khadr also expressed his wish to work in healthcare.
"You have to be able to empathise with people in pain, and I know I`ve experienced pain so I think I can empathise with people who are going through that."
