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CANBERRA - Foreign Minister Alexander Downer today said he welcomed the conclusion of the David Hicks "saga".
"I'm glad that it's reached a conclusion," he told ABC radio just minutes after Hicks entered a guilty plea at a US military tribunal at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba to a charge of providing material support for terrorism.
But Mr Downer would not vouch for the integrity of the plea, which comes more than five years after the 31-year-old Adelaide man was captured in Afghanistan and sent to the US military prison.
Mr Downer said he was glad the process was coming to a conclusion after "far too long".
"Obviously we've had enormous concerns about the allegations that have been brought against David Hicks," he said.
"(But) I'm pleased for everybody's sake ... that this saga has come to a conclusion."
Mr Downer would not directly comment when asked about the integrity of the guilty plea given the amount of time Hicks had been held in the harsh confines of the US military prison.
"The conditions at Guantanamo Bay have been described to me ... as being consistent with the conditions in a high security prison in the United States," Mr Downer said.
"I think people will weigh up all of the debates there have been about David Hicks in the context of the guilty plea.
"I'm not his lawyer, this is a matter for him, it's obviously a matter that he's discussed with his lawyers and taken advice from his lawyers."
Hicks' Australian lawyer David McLeod yesterday indicated his client was willing to consider all options to "get out of this place", referring to Guantanamo Bay.
Mr Downer reiterated that Hicks would be back in Australia before too long under a prisoner exchange deal with the US.
"We have an arrangement with the Americans whereby he can serve any residue of his sentence in an Australian prison," he said.
Mr Downer would not reveal if the government was given any prior notice that Hicks was likely to strike a deal to plead guilty.
- AAP
