U.K.'s Blair Refuses to Meet Guantanamo Detainee Hicks' Father

Bloomberg
Mar. 27, 2006

March 27 (Bloomberg) -- U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair said he would not meet the father of Guantanamo Bay detainee David Hicks during a three-day visit to Australia.

Terry Hicks asked to meet Blair in Canberra today after the U.K. government rejected Hicks' appeal to be considered a British citizen. Hicks, 30, wants citizenship so he can ask U.K. officials to lobby for his release from the navel base in Cuba where he is held on terrorism charges.

``We've got a court case about the application of David Hicks and it wouldn't be right for me to meet his father,'' Blair told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio.

Hicks won a legal battle for citizenship on Dec. 13. The U.K. government has challenged the move. Nine Britons held at the U.S. naval base in Cuba were returned to the U.K. and have been released. About 490 prisoners from 40 countries are being held by the U.S. at Guantanamo Bay.

``I can't really argue on a hypothesis,'' Blair said when he was asked about lobbying for Hicks' release if he is granted British citizenship. ``In the end, Guantanamo is an anomaly and has got to come to an end.''

Hicks was captured in Afghanistan during the U.S.-led war on terrorism in December 2001. He faces charges of conspiracy to commit attacks on civilians and civilian targets, attempted murder and aiding the enemy. He is scheduled to stand trial before a U.S. military tribunal.

Blair is due to address a joint sitting of Australia's parliament at noon today in Canberra.