Former Guantanamo detainee Hicks returns to Australia

Last Updated: Saturday, May 19, 2007 | 10:44 PM ET

CBC News

David Hicks, an Australian who pleaded guilty to supporting al-Qaeda, has returned to his home country after more than five years in the Guantanamo Bay detention centre in Cuba.

David Hicks, shown in an undated photo released by his family, arrived in Australia on Sunday after spending more than five years in detention at a U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
(Associated Press)

Hicks landed in his hometown of Adelaide in a private jet Sunday as part of a plea agreement made in March that will see him serve the final seven months of his nine-month jail sentence on home soil.

Hicks — the first terror suspect convicted by a U.S. military commission in Cuba — was later transferred to a South Australia state prison.

"Mr. Hicks is now in the custody of the South Australian correctional services," Attorney General Philip Ruddock said in a brief statement confirming Hicks's return to Australia.
 
Hicks, a Muslim convert, made the flight from Guantanamo Bay in a government-chartered Gulfstream G550 jet with an entourage of Australian police, prison officers and his Australian lawyer.

His flight was diverted through Mexico because the United States had refused Hicks entry to American airspace, local media reported.

Hicks's lengthy detention prompted Australian Prime Minister John Howard — a loyal ally to U.S. President George W. Bush — to criticize the pace of military justice at Guantanamo.

Alleged abuse in U.S. custody

The 31-year-old former kangaroo skinner had earlier complained of abuse while in U.S. custody in Afghanistan and at Guantanamo. As part of the plea bargain agreed between his lawyers and military prosecutors, he dropped all claims that he had been mistreated.

During his trial, Hicks testified that he carried out surveillance work on the abandoned American Embassy in Kabul, participated in al-Qaeda training camps in Afghanistan in 2001 and fought in the front lines alongside al-Qaeda in the early days after U.S.-led forces invaded Afghanistan.

Hicks, who had adopted the alias Abu Muslim Australia, testified that he deserted al-Qaeda and Taliban forces within two hours, sold his weapon and attempted to flee to Pakistan.

He was not accused in any shootings of U.S. soldiers. He also denied having any early knowledge of al-Qaeda's plans to strike the U.S. on Sept. 11, 2001.