Omar Khadr moves to medium-security prison

Omar Khadr has moved from a maximum-security prison in Alberta to a medium-security prison in the same province.

"[We] are pleased to see Canada finally acknowledge that Omar is not a dangerous individual," one of his lawyers, John Kingman Phillips, said in a written statement.

"We trust that this is the first step by Canada in providing Omar with treatment that is appropriate for someone who is a former child soldier."

The former Guantanamo Bay inmate has spent more than 15 months in Canadian custody. He was reclassified as a medium-security threat in November, against the wishes of the federal government.

His other lawyer Dennis Edney said at the time his client Khadr would be moved to the Bowden Institution near the town of Innisfail.

"Mr. Khadr has been reclassified as a medium-security threat and will be eventually transferred to Bowden as a medium [security] prisoner," Edney said in November.

Khadr pleaded guilty in 2010 to five war crimes, including murder, for killing an American soldier in Afghanistan when he was 15.

The 27-year-old was being held at the federal maximum-security prison in Edmonton while serving the remainder of an eight-year sentence. Khadr was transferred to Canada from a U.S. military base in Guantanamo Bay in September 2012.

Bowden Institution is a medium-security prison with a minimum-security annex. A government website says Bowden Institution encourages inmates to become law-abiding citizens by offering education, employment and rehabilitation programs.