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'Aussie Taliban' Hicks goes into hiding

Former Guantanamo Bay inmate David Hicks was in hiding yesterday following his release from an Australian prison amid reports the "Aussie Taliban" feared he would be targeted by extremists.

Hicks walked out of Adelaide's Yatala prison on Saturday after completing a nine-month sentence for providing material support for terrorism.

The 32-year-old had spent more than five years behind bars at the US military base at Guantanamo Bay after being picked up in Afghanistan after the Sept. 11 attacks on the US.

Hicks returned to Australia in May as part of a plea bargain deal with US officials under which he could serve the remainder of his sentence on home soil.

His father Terry, who reportedly wept as he waited for his son to emerge from the prison, said Hicks had concerns for his safety following his release.

"We've got to be honest about this: There are people out there who don't like David Hicks," he told the Sun-Herald. "I am hoping that's as far as it goes -- that they just don't like him and leave it at that."

Hick's lawyer David McLeod said his client was fearful of attacks by Muslim extremists because he had renounced his Islamic faith in 2002 and also dropped his allegiance to Osama bin Laden.

But he was also worried that far-right extremists could target him for having trained with al-Qaeda.

"David is concerned about the safety of his family from people who hold views he was purported to share," McLeod told the Sun-Herald.

"There are also a number of far-right nationalist groups in Australia who have spoken out about David."

McLeod said Hicks was also worried he would be hounded by the media and accidentally breach a condition of his plea bargain, which prevents him from speaking to journalists until April, and face further imprisonment.

Hicks' whereabouts are now kept secret even from his father, who campaigned vigorously for his son to be released from Guantanamo.

"We haven't been interacting for five or six years. What's a couple of days?" Hicks senior told national radio.

Amnesty International Australia, which has been deeply critical of the US process, said questions remained over the legitimacy of Hicks' arrest, detention and the control order which now limits his movements in Australia.

Spokeswoman Katie Wood said Hicks should have been promptly charged, provided with the evidence against him and brought to trial.

"None of that ever happened," she said.

But others have called for Hicks, who after meeting bin Laden once described him as a "lovely brother," to apologize to the Australian public.
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