Sep 30, 2006 5:49 pm US/Pacific
Australian At Gitmo To Be Among First Tried
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) ―
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A detainee holds praying beads while holding onto the fence around Camp Delta 4, Guantanamo Bay U.S. Naval Base, Cuba.
AP
The only Australian held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, will be among the first terror suspects tried by the overhauled U.S. military commission system within months, Australia's attorney general said Sunday.
With domestic pressure mounting on the center-right government over how long alleged Taliban fighter David Hicks has spent at the U.S. naval base in Cuba, Attorney General Philip Ruddock met with his U.S. counterpart Alberto Gonzales last week to press for a speedy resolution. He returned home Sunday.
"It ought to be a matter that can be dealt with quickly. We've said it should be dealt with quickly and they've said to us it will be among the first cases to be heard," Ruddock told Australian Broadcasting Corp. television.
"They don't think it will be within weeks -- obviously the process of regulations, choosing those who will serve on the commissions will take perhaps even some months -- but they're very conscious of our view that this needs to happen very expeditiously," he said.
Hicks, a 31-year-old former kangaroo skinner, was arrested by the Northern Alliance in Afghanistan in December 2001 and was later charged with attempted murder, conspiracy to commit war crimes and aiding the enemy.
Congress last week approved legislation that addressed a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in June that the commissions were illegal. But regulations have yet to be put in place and new charges would need to be drafted, Ruddock aid.
The legislation Congress sent President Bush Friday endorses his plan to interrogate and prosecute terror suspects and sets the rules for court proceedings. It would only apply to those selected by the military for prosecution and leaves mostly unaffected the majority of the 14,000 prisoners in U.S. custody, most of whom are in Iraq.
The Pentagon had previously selected 10 prisoners at Guantanamo Bay prison to be tried and Bush is expected also to try some or all of the 14 suspects held by the CIA in secret prisons and recently transferred to military custody at Guantanamo.
(© 2006 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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