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GUANTANAMO BAY - Terry Hicks has raised the prospect of his son, accused Australian terrorist David Hicks, agreeing to a plea deal with US military prosecutors.
Terry says he is not sure whether his son will plead guilty or not guilty at tomorrow's appearance in a Guantanamo Bay courtroom.
"We don't know what David is going to do as far as whether he is going to plead guilty or plead not guilty, or whether they have dangled the carrot in front of him," Terry told reporters at the Australian embassy in Washington DC today.
"We just have to wait and see on that side of it."
Terry and his daughter Stephanie will fly from Washington DC to the US Naval station on Guantanamo tomorrow just hours before Hicks appears before the military commission.
Hicks' legal team has been adamant he will plead not guilty to a charge of providing material support for terrorism.
Before the court appearance, Hicks will meet his father and sister in a secure room and under the watchful eyes of US military security personnel.
It will be the first time Terry has seen David since 2004 at the Guantanamo detainee facility.
"He's not going to be the same person I saw three and half years ago," Terry said. "We'll have to brace ourselves for that."
Hicks has been locked up at Guantanamo for more than five years and his mental and physical condition have deteriorated, his lawyers have said.
"We are not sure what questions we are going to ask at this point because things change all of a sudden," Terry said.
"We don't know how David is going to be like, how his mental condition is or how his physical condition is. So we are probably going to be aware that he's changed and we'll just take it from there."
During the 2004 meeting, Terry said his son was shackled to the floor.
"It's pretty hard to take if he's shackled," Terry said. "The last time I saw David he was shackled to the floor and it was pretty hard to take.
"It will be an emotional meeting. The questions you have in mind go out the window."
The Australian government agreed to pay for Terry and Stephanie to travel to Guantanamo, but Terry, who has been critical of the Howard government, said he was sceptical of the gesture.
He joked the government could send him a bill for the airfares.
"I still think this is all political at the moment," Terry said.
"I suppose I shouldn't be saying that.
".. This is one way I suppose of appeasing everybody and saying 'Well, we paid for the Hicks family to go over'.
"After this session they will probably ask us to pay for it. But it's still political."
Hicks, 31, originally from Adelaide was taken into custody while allegedly fighting for the Taleban in Afghanistan in late 2001.
The US military's chief prosecutor, Colonel Morris Davis, earlier admitted Hicks' legal team, led by US military appointed lawyer Major Michael Mori, was leading the public opinion battle in Australian in the Hicks case.
However, he added the Australian public will support the prosecution case when it hears the facts.
"They have done a very effective job of telling their version of the story and we have done a very poor job of telling ours," Col Morris told reporters.
"We're optimistic when the public sees the truth the opinion will change."
"... For too long we didn't say anything. We let the defence say whatever they wanted, whether it was correct or incorrect, and the policy was no comment and that's just not a very effective policy.
"We have nothing to be ashamed of and we ought to tell our story."
- AAP
