Australian to Appear at Military Panel

In this photo released by the Hicks family shown is David Hicks, the only Australian among the 500 terror suspects awaiting military trial at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Australian terrorist suspect David Hicks will make his first appearance before a U.S. military commission on March 20 _ more than five years after he was imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay, Prime Minister John Howard said Thursday March 8, 2007. (AP Photo/Hicks family handout, FILE) (Handout - AP)

SYDNEY, Australia -- Australian terrorist suspect David Hicks will make his first appearance before a U.S. military commission on March 20 _ more than five years after he was imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay, Prime Minister John Howard said Thursday.

Hicks, the only Australian at the American military prison in Cuba, was charged March 1 with providing material support for terrorism, becoming the first inmate at the camp to face a military commission.

Howard told Southern Cross Broadcasting he had been informed that a date has been set for Hicks' first appearance _ an arraignment hearing on March 20.

Howard, under increasing pressure about Hicks' treatment, has recently started demanding that U.S. officials speed up the trial process.

"It is not before time _ it has taken too long," said Howard, a staunch White House ally in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

One of Hicks' civilian lawyers, Joshua Dratel, said Hicks would plead innocent but that the case could be delayed afterward because of a U.S Supreme Court appeal by Guantanamo inmates that could for a second time shoot down the military tribunal process.

Hicks is a former kangaroo skinner and Muslim convert who was captured by U.S.-allied Afghan forces in late 2001 and shipped to Guantanamo Bay in early 2002.

He originally was charged with attempted murder, conspiracy to commit war crimes and aiding the enemy, and was selected to face a military tribunal. But his case was thrown into limbo when the Supreme Court decided last June that the tribunals were illegal.

The rules on military commissions were redrafted, and Hicks was charged again, though the more serious charge of attempted murder was not revived.

Hicks' lawyers are fighting for his freedom on a number of fronts, and won a minor victory Thursday when the Federal Court threw out a motion to kill his suit claiming that Howard's government failed to adequately press Washington to release him.

The government had sought to dismiss the case, saying it had no prospect of success. But judge Brian Tamberlin ruled that Hicks' case should be heard at "the earliest possible time." No dates were set.

It is unclear what, if any, effect the Australian case could have on the military commission process.