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New Aussie prosecutor attacks US

"I don't care what [David Hicks has] done or alleged to have done, I think he's entitled to a trial and a fair one."

Brigadier Lyn McDade, incoming chief Australian military prosecutor

Australia's chief military prosecutor labeled US treatment of the country's sole Guantanamo Bay detainee David Hicks "abominable" in an interview published yesterday.

Brigadier Lyn McDade criticized delays in the case against Hicks, who has been in US custody awaiting trial for more than five years after being captured in Afghanistan in late 2001.

"Abominable. Quite frankly I think it's wrong," McDade told the Australian newspaper.

"I don't care what he's done or alleged to have done, I think he's entitled to a trial and a fair one and he is entitled to be charged and dealt with as soon as possible -- as is anybody," she added.

McDade's stance is stronger than that taken by the Australian government, which has repeatedly refused to echo Britain's successful demands for the return of its Guantanamo detainees.

Hicks, a 31-year-old Muslim convert, is being held in the US military base on Cuba awaiting trial on charges of conspiracy, attempted murder and aiding the enemy.

He is alleged to have been fighting with the Taliban and received training from al-Qaeda.

McDade, who said she was determined to remain independent following her appointment last year, said the Australian military would never hold a prisoner for so long without trial.

"If we did that you can imagine the hue and cry," she told ABC radio.

"Whether it's David Hicks or anybody else, I don't believe anyone should be disentitled to a fair and quick trial," she said.

"If you are accused, allegations are made against you in relation to the commission to any type of offending ... As far as I'm concerned you should be brought to trial as quickly as possible," she said.

Australian Prime Minister John Howard said he was unhappy with delays in Hicks' trial in an interview with the Age newspaper on Sunday, saying he had passed on his concern to US authorities.

"The acceptability of him being kept in custody diminishes by the day," Howard told the newspaper.

Attorney-General Philip Ruddock said the delay was "unreasonable and inappropriate" but Washington had assured Howard that Hicks would be one of the first Guantanamo inmates tried under new laws talking effect this month.

"The fact that a trial has not yet occurred frustrates us and we have been arguing very strongly with the United States that these issues need to be resolved quickly," Ruddock told reporters.

"We believe the delay is very unreasonable and inappropriate and that's why we've been arguing that it needs to be dealt with as quickly as possible."

McDade's comment "reflects the government's position," he said.
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