|
Hicks denies son trained as terrorist
Terry Hicks, the father of Australian Guantanamo Bay detainee David Hicks, admits his son may have received military training with Al Qaeda but not terrorist training. Terry Hicks stood inside a wire cage near Broadway, one of Manhattan's busiest streets, to highlight the conditions he says his son is experiencing at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. Mr Hicks is meeting with US lawyers to discuss plans for his son's trial. David Hicks has not been charged yet but is one of six detainees being considered for the first military tribunals. Mr Hicks has spent the last few weeks retracing his son's steps in Afghanistan and Pakistan. "If he's guilty I accept that but I don't think he is judging what I've seen in the last 3 weeks," Terry Hicks said.
| "Nope. Nope. Pure as the driven snow..." |
Mr Hicks says his son received military training from Al Qaeda but he says it was in preparation to fight for the Taliban against the Northern Alliance. "A terrorist is someone who is trained to kill civilians and destroy civilian property and David's not that type of fellow anyway," Mr Hicks said. Mr Hicks says his claims are based on information provided by Taliban and Northern Alliance sources during his recent visit to Pakistan and Afghanistan. Last week, the US agreed not to seek the death penalty if David Hicks is found guilty.
| "Y'see, he trained as a Taliban. That means he learned how to beat women and whip people with battery cables. He don't even know how to fly a plane!" |
Posted by: Fred Pruitt 2003-07-29 |
