Habib rubs it: ‘Australians detained me’-

* Mamduh Habib, ex-jihad freak who was picked up in Pakistan after 9/11,- claimed he ‘was looking for a good Muslim school for his kids’- and is now trying to screw sue the Australian government for some compensation:

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FORMER Guantanamo Bay inmate Mamdouh Habib said he was held in the Australian High Commission in Islamabad and interrogated by an Australian diplomat, in fresh claims aired in the Federal Court yesterday.

Mr Habib alleged Australian diplomat Alistair Adams threatened him during one of the encounters at the consulate building, telling him he would be sent back to Egypt and would never see his children again.
“Alistair Adams told me, ‘You have to co-operate, Mr Habib, or you will lose your citizenship and you will be back in Egypt’,” Mr Habib said yesterday.

Government solicitors have accused the 51-year-old former coffee-shop owner of making up the allegation to further his case for compensation against the commonwealth.

Mr Habib was released from Guantanamo Bay in 2005 without charge. He is suing the commonwealth for not doing enough to prevent his three-year detention in the US military prison.

This is the first time a court has heard he was detained under Australian authority on Australian premises in the Pakistani capital.

Mr Habib said he was blindfolded by his Pakistani captors five minutes before reaching his destination by car, but he could make out the bottom half of the building, the steps and the security gate by tilting his head up.

It “look like a castle, a five-star building”, he said.

Inside the building, where his blindfold was removed, servants dressed in traditional Pakistani white uniforms with red sashes tied around their waists moved about, he said.

The room he was taken to for questioning was set up like a bedroom, with a television and a computer.

Mr Habib claims to have met Mr Adams in Pakistan three times in October 2001 and said the diplomat and two Pakistanis were present when he was interrogated there by two US women.

Counsel for the federal Government, Barry Toomey QC, said Mr Habib did not see an Australian flag, coat of arms, plaque or anything else suggesting it was an Australian building, because “you were never in the High Commission in Islamabad”.

“This is something you manufactured, you made up because you think it will help your case,” Mr Toomey said.
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Tracy Ong, The Australian read more…

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This story is from our news.com.au network Source: AAP

“Jihad-Jack” Thomas’s lawyer withdraws from case
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JOSEPH Terrence Thomas will have to find a new lawyer in his defence of terrorism-related charges, after his solicitor withdrew from the case today.
Thomas was due to stand trial in the Victorian Supreme Court this week after pleading not guilty to intentionally receiving funds from a terrorist organisation and possessing a falsified Australian passport.

Today, Lex Lasry QC said his instructing solicitor, Rob Stary, could no longer act on Thomas’ behalf because he may be required to give evidence as a witness in the case.

Judge Bill Gillard adjourned the matter until Friday.