Former Gitmo Inmate Seeks Aussie Office

Former Guantanamo Bay inmate, Mamdouh Habib, speaks during an interview in Sydney, Australia, on Thursday, March 22, 2007. Habib will stand for election on March 24 in the district of Auburn, a predominantly Muslim suburb of Sydney, in elections for the parliament of New South Wales, Australia's most populous state. (AP Photo/Paul Miller) (Paul Miller - AP)

SYDNEY, Australia -- Former Guantanamo Bay inmate Mamdouh Habib says he's no enemy of democracy. To prove it, he's standing for election at home in Australia.

On Saturday, Habib will contest the district of Auburn, a predominantly Muslim suburb of Sydney, in elections for the parliament of New South Wales, Australia's most populous state.

He says he is undeterred by polls that give him little chance of success, and insists he will run for a federal parliament seat this year if his state bid fails.

U.S. officials accused Habib, an Egyptian-born immigrant, of traveling to al-Qaida training camps in Afghanistan and knowing about the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks before they happened. He was arrested in Pakistan in late 2001 and detained for three years.

Habib says he was sent back to his native country and tortured at Washington's behest, a life-changing ordeal that spurred him to enter politics as a campaigner for human rights.

"They say I'm against democracy. Who's against democracy? What's democratic about taking people from their homes, kidnapping and torturing them?" Habib said Thursday during a break from campaigning.

Habib has not given a clear explanation about why he was in Pakistan, referring variously to business reasons and researching possible schools for his children.

In media interviews and an affidavit presented to a U.S. court in 2005, Habib said he was held in Pakistan for 28 days _ at one point being interrogated by three Americans _ before being transferred to Egypt, where he alleges he was beaten, shocked with electricity and nearly drowned while under interrogation.

After six months, he was sent to the U.S. military base at Bagram, Afghanistan and then Guantanamo Bay. He was returned to Australia in January 2005.

No charges were ever filed, and the Australian government says he has committed no crime under Australian law.

Since returning to Australia, Habib has been a high-profile critic of Prime Minister John Howard's support for U.S. foreign policy, including the Iraq war and "extraordinary rendition" _ the secretive practice of grabbing terror suspects in one country and sending them to another for questioning.

He regularly speaks at anti-war protests and human rights forums sponsored by the Socialist Alliance, an Australian far-left group.