The U.S. State Department says the release of former Guantanamo Bay detainee Omar Khadr would not harm diplomatic relations between Washington and Ottawa, one of the main arguments federal government lawyers are making to keep the 28-year-old behind bars.

“No,” a department spokesperson told the Toronto Star Friday when asked if his release would have any impact. “The United States has a close and co-operative relationship with the Government of Canada. We maintain continuous discussions on a broad range of issues, including security.”

Khadr is scheduled to be released Tuesday from an Edmonton court after the conditions of his bail are determined by Justice June Ross.

But Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney has said Ottawa plans to appeal the ruling and it is widely expected the government will attempt to get a stay in the bail order, attempting to delay his release until the appeal is heard.

Ottawa could seek a stay from Ross during the Tuesday afternoon hearing, or bypass her court and go to Alberta’s Court of Appeal.

By Friday evening, a week after Ross ordered Khadr released, no official appeal had been filed with the courts.

Requests for comment to the Department of Justice went unanswered.

Blaney spokesperson Jeremy Laurin emailed the standard media lines for queries about the Khadr case, which include: “Our government will continue to work to combat the international jihadi movement, which has declared war on Canada and her allies.”

When asked for a comment specific to the appeal, Laurin replied, “The matter is before the courts and we cannot comment.”

For the government to obtain a stay in Khadr’s bail they would have to convince the court that his release would cause “irreparable harm.”

But government lawyers did not present any evidence at Khadr’s bail hearing that he presents a threat to society — a fact that Justice Ross noted in her ruling, writing that Khadr has “a 12-1/2 year track record as a model prisoner, and a release plan supported by educators, mental health professionals, and his lawyers.”

“They haven’t attempted to say that Omar’s any kind of a threat and so I have difficulty seeing how they could prove irreparable harm,” Khadr’s lawyer Nathan Whitling said Friday.

Ross also highlighted in her ruling the fact that the Alberta Court of Appeals recognized Khadr as a juvenile, since he was 15 years old at the time of his capture in Afghanistan following a firefight where U.S. Delta Force soldier Christopher Speer was fatally wounded.

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Ottawa is also challenging that ruling and the Supreme Court of Canada will hear arguments later this month. It will be the third time Khadr’s case has reached the country’s highest court.

Contact Michelle Shephard at mshephard@thestar.ca . Follow her on Twitter @shephardm.

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