Australia wants terror suspect freed if acquitted

1.00pm

CANBERRA - Australia would press the United States to free Australian al Qaeda suspect David Hicks if he was acquitted of war crimes by a military tribunal sitting in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, said Foreign Minister Alexander Downer.

Hicks, a 29-year-old convert to Islam, is among the first four suspected al Qaeda fighters held at a US naval base at Guantanamo Bay due to face a military tribunal.

The four men are appearing this week for pre-trial hearings and formal reading of charges.

Downer said Australia's conservative government, a close ally of the United States, would lobby US President George W Bush for the release of Hicks if he was acquitted.

"I would expect him to be set free if he's found to be innocent of the charges brought against him," Downer said late on Tuesday.

"But let's just wait and see how the trial proceeds before we start casting judgment on what's likely to happen."

If Hicks is acquitted he could still be held indefinitely under a US policy that considers him an enemy combatant in the war on terror, sparked by the September 11, 2001, hijacked airliner attacks on the United States.

He could only be freed if a separate military panel finds he is not a danger and has no information that could prevent future attacks, military officials have said.

"We have been urging the Americans to bring on the military commission trial as quickly as possible and frankly it's taken a good deal longer than we would have wanted," Downer told Australian television.

Hicks, captured in Afghanistan in 2001, is accused of fighting for al Qaeda and conducting surveillance of US and British embassies on its behalf. He faces charges of attempted murder and aiding the enemy and conspiracy to commit war crimes.

His lawyer, Stephen Kenny, said Hicks would plead not guilty to all charges.

The Australian government has come under fire from the country's main opposition Labor party for not pressing harder for the release of Hicks and a second Australian, Mamdouh Habib.

The government instead came to an agreement with the United States that allows Hicks and Habib access to a lawyer, would not see them subjected to the death penalty, which Australia opposes, and allows them to serve any jail term in Australia if convicted.

- REUTERS