Former Australian Guantanamo Bay detainee details abuse

CANBERRA - Former Guantanamo Bay detainee Mamdouh Habib has spoken during his first Australian interview of a systematic regime of physical and mental abuse suffered in detention.

In a paid interview with the Nine Network's 60 Minutes last night, Mr Habib claimed that shortly after he was arrested in 2001 an Australian official visited him at a military airport in Pakistan and watched as he was tortured.

During the particular episode of abuse, Mr Habib said 15 men stripped him, inserted something into his anus, put him in a nappy and tied him up.

A spokesman for Foreign Minister Alexander Downer last night said it was outrageous to suggest an Australian law enforcement officer would have stood by and watched Mr Habib being tortured.

Federal Attorney-General Philip Ruddock Mr Habib's claim was untrue.

"In part, the information that he provided conflicts with information I have received from departmental officials," Mr Ruddock told Channel Nine.

"The information suggests that it was an Australian official from the Department of Foreign Affairs present when he was tortured in Pakistan, or claims to be tortured in Pakistan.

"(That is) on the advice I have received, untrue."

Mr Ruddock said he would nevertheless look into whether there was anything new in the allegations.

But he claimed it was significant Mr Habib did not deny training with al-Qaeda.

"The other matter that I think is new, is that the only claims I've ever made were that he was in Afghanistan and was believed, on advice from others that were there, that he trained with al Qaeda," Mr Ruddock said.

"They are matters that last night he declined to reject outright and said that he might speak to a judge about.

"That is new information because his representatives have always previously denied that he was in Afghanistan."

Mr Ruddock said Mr Habib could still face Australian charges over alleged past associations with terror groups.

"His time in Afghanistan and his possible training, and time in Pakistan and possible training, might give rise to possible charges, if the training with terrorist organisations was an offence at that time," he said.

His lawyer Stephen Hopper said he was preparing a case in the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) that he hoped would clear his client's name.

"We haven't said where Mamdouh Habib was after he left Australia until the time he was arrested and there's a good reason for that," Mr Hopper told the Nine Network.

"We're building up a potential legal case. We've already got action filed in the AAT.

"These particulars are part of his case and they will be ventilated in court where they're supported by evidence.

"I've heard his story and I have no doubt about what he says is truthful and what he did was completely lawful.

"We're not confirming or denying any particulars of his movements from the time he left Australia until the time (he was detained)."

The interview is Mr Habib's first in Australia since he returned last month after his release from Guantanamo Bay.

In an earlier interview with The New York Times, Mr Habib threatened to sue the Australian government for failing to protect him.

Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said the government had repeatedly raised allegations of torture with the US.

"They (the US) did one Pentagon inquiry into whether (David) Hicks and Habib had been abused in Guantanamo Bay, and concluded they hadn't," he said.

Mr Downer said Washington had initiated another investigation which was yet to be reported.

Mr Habib was released from the US military prison in Cuba, where he was held for more than two years without charge. He remains a person of interest to Australia's chief spy agency ASIO.

First detained in October 2001 after being picked up in Pakistan, Mr Habib said he was subjected to electric shocks, beatings and use of drugs.

- AAP