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TORONTO — The Harper government’s foot-dragging on the return of Omar Khadr from Guantanamo Bay is unprecedented in light of the commitment it gave the United States that it would accept his transfer to Canada, a former diplomat says.

Gar Pardy, who spent more than three decades with Canada’s foreign service, said it was on the basis of that commitment that Khadr pleaded guilty before a widely maligned U.S. military commission to war crimes committed as a 15 year old.

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“It’s more than extraordinary, it’s unprecedented,” Pardy said of Ottawa’s inaction.

“I don’t think there’s any enthusiasm by any of the people in the Canadian government to see him come back to Canada — they’re trying to drag it out in every way possible.”

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Pardy, who retired in 2003, is one of four people swearing affidavits in support of a new application by Khadr’s lawyers asking Federal Court to order Public Safety Minister Vic Toews to make a decision on the file.