Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Terrible People

Former Foreign Minister under the Howard government, Alexander Downer  still believes David Hicks and Mamdouh Habib were "terrible people' and says 'the government always regarded Mr Habib as the more dangerous of the two" according to today's Sydney Morning Herald.
Alexander Downer
This follows the release of new Wikileaks cables about the inmates of Guantanamo Bay. Both Habib and Hicks spent years confined there without trial. The latest cables proclaim the two men were "dangerous terrorists and that Habib had 'trained the 9/11 hijackers" and had confessed in Egypt that he had "planned to hi-jack a Qantas jet"

When Egyptian students helped overthrew the dictator Mubarak in Egypt secret police files revealed that Habib had been rendered to Egypt  by the USA-despite official denials- where he was tortured for 5 months and questioned whilst an Australian government official was in the room.

Alexander Downer had always emphatically denied Habib's claim that he was sent to Egypt. Habib was eventually flown back to Australia (not by Qantas but in a government leased Lear jet) after being released without charge.

The Julia Gillard government has just made a secret settlement with Habib rumoured to be around the 2 million dollar mark to nip in the bud embarrssing claims about that torture. The exact details still may emerge because Habib is now suing the Egyptian government.

"No, I won't be changing my mind about them. They were both terrible people - absolutely shocking." continues Downer in the SMH.

Hicks was said to "have links to senior Al-Qaeda leaders" (he met Osama Bin Laden once) and he too was flown back by private jet when released on a dodged up charge. He has said of Alexander Downer  :" he is hardly in a position to call me shocking "

Aloysia & David Hicks with Governor Marie Bashir at Boomerang
The Shuttle met David Hicks seven weeks ago at a party at Boomerang, the Spanish style harborside mansion of trucking magnate Lindsay Fox. He seemed a likeable and friendly chap, if somewhat wary of the press but the NSW Governor, Her Excellency Marie Bashir chatted amicably to Hicks and his wife Aloysia and didn't seem at all 'shocked' by him.

Fact : from 1999 tthe Australian Wheat Board paid bribes of nearly $300M to Saddam Hussein in the 'wheat for oil scandal'. During a Royal Commission evidence was heard that the money was used to buy weapons that were used against the allies invading Iraq to depose Saddam.

The minister responsible for the AWB-Alexander Downer claimed that he had never read the hundreds of emails informing him of the bribes. Although the Commission recommended charges against 12 people, no-one ever faced a court.