 NO Australian official who had access to Australian terror suspect Mamdouh Habib witnessed any abuse against him while he was held in Pakistan in October 2002, the Federal Government said today. An affidavit alleging Mr Habib had been tortured and humiliated in the presence of an Australian official was released by his American lawyer today.
| If you can't believe an al-Qaeda thug and an American lawyer, who can you believe? |
Mr Habib, from Sydney, has been imprisoned without charge at Guantanamo Bay since he was captured in Pakistan in early October 2001, accused of aiding terrorist network al-Qaeda. He was held initially in Pakistan before he was sent to Egypt and then to Cuba, where another Australian, David Hicks, is also imprisoned. Attorney-General Phillip Ruddock said today that his inquiries into the allegations showed no Australian officials had witnessed abuse against Mr Habib.
"You see anything, Roger?"
"Nope. Not me, chief!" |
"All of the officials who had access in October 2002 for non-consular purposes have confirmed there was no abuse witnessed by them," Mr Ruddock told reporters. Mr Habib's Australian lawyer, Stephen Hopper, had earlier accused the Australian Government of complicity in torture. "It's absolutely disgraceful," Mr Hopper said. "Any Australian citizen cannot be tortured that way, and to stand by and watch Americans or persons from any nationality do that to an Australian citizen is just unacceptable. What this indicates is that the Australian government officials have been engaged in crimes against humanity."
| Whoa! Nice load of spittle! |
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