'Aussie Taliban' Hicks begins life after prison
SYDNEY (AFP) — Former Guantanamo Bay inmate David Hicks has gone swimming, met with his father and ventured out without being recognised since his release from prison three days ago, a report said Tuesday.
The so-called "Aussie Taliban" is being shielded by supporters and has been moving from house to house to avoid detection since walking out of Adelaide's Yatala prison on Saturday, his father Terry Hicks told The Age newspaper.
Hicks, the only detainee from the controversial Guantanamo Bay US military base in Cuba to be convicted on terrorism charges, said in a statement on his release that he was not strong enough to deal with the media spotlight.
He also reportedly fears he could be targetted by extremists for giving up his Muslim faith and denouncing Osama bin Laden, or that he could breach the conditions of his plea bargain by accidentally speaking to the media.
Since winning his freedom, Hicks has donned a cap and ventured out several times into the community without being recognised, the report said.
"He has had a chance to get out and do his own thing," it quoted his father, Terry Hicks, as saying. "He hasn't harmed anyone."
Hicks, who completed a nine-month sentence imposed by the US military on home soil after pleading guilty to a charge of providing support to terrorism, wants to avoid detection because of his lack of confidence and social skills after being in Guantanamo Bay for so long, his father said.
He has been living in undisclosed suburban locations to avoid attention.
But he was spotted by a reporter from The Age on Monday as he held a secret reunion with his father.
David Hicks refused to answer any questions, telling the journalist: "I'm doing fine."
Hicks was picked up in Afghanistan in late 2001 after a US-led offensive against the Al-Qaeda network following the September 11 attacks on the United States.
He spent more than five years at Guantanamo Bay without trial, before he was eventually charged with conspiracy, attempted murder and aiding the enemy.
The charge was later downgraded after US courts ruled that the Guantanamo system of military tribunals was unconstitutional.
Hicks was allowed to complete his sentence on home soil and he returned to Australia in May.
