The Curmudgeon

YOU'LL COME FOR THE CURSES. YOU'LL STAY FOR THE MUDGEONRY.

Friday, March 30, 2007

Hope of Release for Hostages

The American hostage crisis took another sinister turn today as the Australian David Hicks was found guilty by a military tribunal of "providing material support for terrorism". Hicks, a former animal cruelty specialist who converted to Islamofascism in 1999, admitted training with al-Qaida and fighting with the terroristic terror organisation in Afghanistan for two whole hours. He also told the judge, in case the judge had insufficient evidence for it, that "the US government could prove its case against him". Hicks himself claimed to have seen evidence comprising "notes taken by interrogators from me", which is apparently the kind of thing that constitutes evidence in certain fanatical, barbaric and militaristic cultures.

In a surprise move which has wrongfooted many experts, the judge accepted Hicks' guilty plea and "limited" his sentence to seven years' imprisonment on top of the five years during which he was held in circumstances described by Britain as anomalous. The sentence was described by the military prosecutors, who certainly ought to know, as "substantially less" than the twenty years which had been threatened.

The Australian prime minister, John Howard, is thought to have agreed a face-saving deal with Hicks' kidnappers, which will enable the convicted provider of material support for terrorism to be repatriated, and to have part of his sentence suspended as befits such a dangerous criminal.

Meanwhile, the revelation that Bisher al-Rawi, despite being resident in Britain a mere nineteen years, had worked for MI5 has led the Minister of Foreigners Excluding Europe to decide that it may possibly be safe, or at least expedient, to let him back into the country. Margaret Beckett began "attempts to seek his return" in early 2006; with her customary efficiency, she has taken this long to reach an agreement with our number one ally so that al-Rawi can be repatriated, interrogated under the anti-terrorism laws, fingerprinted, DNA-sampled and databased. Let's hope he remembers to say thank you.

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