Downer knew of Hicks's UK citizenship bid

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Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer has revealed that he knew at the start of this month that Guantanamo Bay detainee David Hicks was thinking about applying for British citizenship. Hicks's lawyers lodged an application after recently learning that Hicks's mother is British. With Britain refusing to recognise the United States military commission system, Hicks's lawyers are hopeful he could be released if his citizenship application is approved.

Mr Downer met the US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld a few weeks ago to urge the US to get Hicks to trial as soon as possible. The Opposition's attorney-general, Nicola Roxon, has suggested the Government was trying to pre-empt Mr Hicks's application. "Have they actually been making comments in the last month urging the US to speed up Mr Hicks' trial, all along thinking that they had to get this going before some embarrassing story like today's revelations came out?" she said. But Mr Downer says Hicks's application was not raised during those talks.

"No, we've always said that we wanted the military commission to process as quickly as possible," he said. "If his application for the citizenship of another country is to be granted then that's a matter for another country. It's not a matter for us."

Britons freed
All nine British Guantanamo inmates were freed when their Government decided they would not receive a fair trial under the military justice system. Hicks's military lawyer, Major Michael Mori, hopes his client will receive similar support. "My understanding from the press releases is that the US and UK governments have an agreement that no British citizen will be processed through the military commission system and will be released from Guantanamo," he said

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200509/s1468652.htm