Omar Khadr's military trial is set to begin on Jan. 11 in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, but his lawyers want it postponed until the U.S. Supreme Court rules on the legality of such trials.

Khadr, 19, is charged with murder for the 2002 death of a U.S. Army medic. Sgt. 1st Class Christopher Speer died 11 days after being injured by a hand grenade allegedly thrown by Khadr, who was 15-years-old at the time.

The U.S. government plans to try the Canadian citizen in a military commission established by President George W. Bush. However, the military commissions are being challenged in the U.S. Supreme Court as unconstitutional.

Reports say that Khadr's lawyers want the military hearing postponed until the Supreme Court rules. Lawyers have argued the Bush Administration's military commissions are at odds with international law and do not provide due process as proscribed by the constitution.

Foreign Affairs officials in Canada are watching the process to see what happens next and trying to get legal help for Khadr.

"We have been pressing for him to have Canadian counsel," Foreign Affairs spokesperson Rodney Moore told CTV.ca on Thursday.

The Jan. 11 hearing in Guantanamo will be similar to an arraignment. Ottawa says the Canadian government will observe the proceedings, but they are unable to intervene.

Battlefield charges

Originally the U.S. signaled it would pursue the death penalty, but later rejected that in favour of life in prison if Khadr is found guilty.

The U.S. Defense Department outlined their charges in Nov. 2005, which include murder, attempted murder, conspiracy and aiding the enemy.

When the charges were laid, the Defense Department said military commission proceedings would provide the presumption of innocence and the right not to testify without inference of guilt. It also said guilt must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt for a conviction to occur.

Consular help

Meanwhile, Moore confirms that consular officials have visited Khadr in the Guantanamo Bay detention facility.

What Foreign Affairs calls, "a welfare visit" happened in December 2005 to check on the detainee's well-being. Another visit occurred in March.

Before that, the U.S. government would only allow "intelligence visits" from Canadian officials.

During those visits Moore says intelligence officers did check on Khadr to ensure he was being treated well in the facility.

Khadr family troubles

The Khadr family has been the subject of intense public scrutiny.

Ahmed Said Khadr was an Egyptian-born Canadian and friend of Osama bin Laden. He was killed during a gun battle with Pakistani forces in 2003. He was accused of being a fundraiser for al Qaeda.

Each of his four sons have been jailed accused of being linked to international terrorism.

• Abdullah Khadr, 24, is currently being held in a Canadian detention facility on charges from the U.S. government. They hope to have him extradited to stand trial for allegedly buying weapons for al Qaeda in Afghanistan.
• Abdurahman Khadr, 22, was captured by the Northern Alliance in Afghanistan. He says he briefly worked for the CIA as an informant at Guantanamo Bay. He returned to Canada in December 2003 and is currently fighting a court case with the government to obtain a passport.
• Karim Khadr, 15, lives in Scarborough, Ontario. A bullet wound in the gun battle with Pakistani security forces in which his father died left Karim paralyzed.

Besides the Khadr brothers, their 25-year-old sister Zaynab had her laptop, DVDs, cassettes and diaries seized when she arrived at Toronto's Pearson International Airport from Pakistan last February.

The laptop had a recording of the voice of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden on it, and some of the DVDs showed videos of terrorists in action.