Australian al Qaeda suspect pleads not guilty

12.20pm UPDATE

US NAVAL BASE, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba - Australian al Qaeda suspect David Hicks, formally charged on Wednesday with war crimes by a US military tribunal, pleaded not guilty and then walked out of the courtroom smiling.

Hicks, a 29-year-old convert to Islam arrested during the US-led war in Afghanistan in late 2001, sat stone-faced through a daylong hearing as his lawyers challenged whether the panel could try him fairly on charges of plotting attacks against America and its allies.

When the presiding officer finally asked how he pleaded, he replied, "Sir, to all the charges, not guilty."

Hicks exhaled a deep sigh, then smiled at his father and stepmother as he was escorted out of court by military police.

He is among the first four suspected al Qaeda fighters held at a remote US naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to face criminal charges of conspiring to commit war crimes, and the second to appear before a military tribunal this week for pre-trial hearings.

The treatment of the Guantanamo prisoners has outraged human rights groups. Most of the 585 prisoners were captured during the war against al Qaeda and the Taleban government in Afghanistan in late 2001 or early 2002 and have not been charged or given access to lawyers.

The tribunals were authorised by President Bush to try foreign militants after the September 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington that killed some 3,000 people, and are the first war-crimes tribunals held by the United States since World War II.

SURVEILLANCE FOR AL QAEDA

Hicks is accused of fighting for al Qaeda and conducting surveillance of US and British embassies on its behalf. He faces charges of attempted murder of coalition forces, aiding the enemy and conspiring to commit war crimes, which carry a maximum penalty of life in prison. The tribunal set his trial for Jan. 10.

Shortly after Hicks arrived in Guantanamo in January 2002, his US captors said he had vowed to kill an American before he left. But he appeared subdued in the courtroom on Wednesday, dressed in a gray suit, white shirt and striped tie. He was clean-shaven and jowly and his short dark hair appeared to be graying at the temples. He was not handcuffed or shackled.

Hicks was allowed brief private meetings with his father and stepmother before and after the hearing. He seemed healthy but "he has the same feelings as myself. It's not a fair system," his father, Terry Hicks, told reporters.

He said his son confirmed reports from Britons recently released from Guantanamo that David Hicks was beaten and tortured by US soldiers while held in Afghanistan.

The elder Hicks did not give specifics but said, "The report from the English is correct. He's been abused." Australian Embassy spokesman Matt Francis said the Australian government had asked US officials to investigate the claim.

The Pentagon said the tribunals were crafted to provide fair trials while protecting national security interests. The prosecutor said he was confident officers on the panel were "very experienced, knowledgeable, fair and independent."

But Hicks' lawyers asked that the charges be dropped on 17 different grounds. They said Bush lacked constitutional authority to order the tribunals, that the tribunal officers were influenced by political appointees and had roles in the Afghanistan war that comprised their ability to be impartial.

They said the United States lacked jurisdiction over events alleged to have been committed by a non-US citizen in Afghanistan before the armed conflict started, that trial rules were vague and still evolving and the charges were not classified as crimes in any pre-existing US, international or military code of law.

"It's an aberration that has no rules of evidence," said Marine Maj. Michael Mori, the military lawyer appointed to defend Hicks. "He is facing an unfair justice system that's not tolerated anywhere else in the world."

The presiding officer, Army Col. Peter Brownback, said he would consider those issues at a hearing on Nov. 2. Under an agreement with the Australian government, Hicks would serve his sentence in Australia if he is convicted.

- REUTERS