KEY POINTS:
LOS ANGELES - The father of Guantanamo Bay inmate David Hicks may become a key prosecution witness in the Australian terror suspect's trial.
Chief prosecutor at the US Office of Military Commissions Colonel Morris Davis said he has evidence of Terry Hicks referring to his son as a
"terrorist".
Terry Hicks is a vocal supporter of his son and has been a key figure in the campaign to have him released from the US military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and returned to Australia.
Col Davis, however, said Terry Hicks referred to his son as a "terrorist" in an interview soon after it became public Hicks had been picked up in Afghanistan in December 2001 and placed in US custody.
"The very first interviews I can find when someone referred to him as a terrorist was Terry Hicks," Col Davis said.
"The first time he was interviewed, Terry Hicks described the phone call with David in September (2001) after 9/11 and David was in Pakistan and said he was going to go back to Afghanistan.
"Terry Hicks said he tried to talk him out of it and told him he shouldn't be taking up arms against his own.
"I think his quote was 'He's 26-years-old, he's his own man, and I can't tell him what to do. In our eyes he's a terrorist because he took up arms against his own'.
"I would tend to agree with Terry Hicks."
Asked if Terry Hicks could be called as a prosecution witness or his comments used to bolster the prosecution case, Col Davis said: "Possibly".
"I'm not the lead prosecutor in the case so I don't want to commit him to a particular strategy or not, but certainly Terry Hicks has changed his tune considerably since that time," Col Davis said.
"But, on day one, he's the first one I can find anywhere that refers to David Hicks being a terrorist."
Hicks, 31, was charged last week with providing material support for terrorism and is expected to appear before the military commission at Guantanamo for a preliminary hearing in late March.
It is alleged Hicks trained with al-Qaeda and fought with the terrorist group when US and Coalition forces invaded Afghanistan following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on Washington DC and New York.
Hicks faces a maximum sentence of life in prison if found guilty.
Col Davis said the prosecution was still open to a plea deal and if Hicks did plead guilty he could be back in Australia "walking free" this year.
Col Davis said he could be open to a plea deal of 10 to 20 years imprisonment.
If the sentence was the 10 years, and Hicks was sent back to Australia to serve it, Col Davis said it was his understanding Hicks' five years jail at Guantanamo could be taken into account.
Col Davis said the matter had been discussed with Hicks' US military lawyer, Major Michael Mori.
"In my understanding in talking to Major Mori that there is a strong possibility or likelihood or expectation the Australian government would credit whatever time he spent in Guantanamo once he gets back to Australia they would apply the credit," Col Davis said.
"Depending on the length of the sentence, there's a strong possibility he would be parole ready once he got back to Australia.
"I'm certainly no expert on the Australian parole system, but the way it was presented to me, if it was reasonably accurate, it's possible, and I can't say it's probable or likely, but it's possible he could be back home and walking free by the end of the year."
- AAP
