US embassy cable - 05CANBERRA284

UNCLAS CANBERRA 000284 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EAP/ANP JCROWLEY, EAP/PA KBAILES, S/WCI 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, PTER, MARR, PHUM, OPRC, AS 
SUBJECT: BALANCED AUSTRALIAN REACTION TO MAMDOUH HABIB MEDIA 
APPEARANCE 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED. 
 
1. (SBU) Summary: Australian former detainee Mamdouh Habib's 
first media appearance since his release from Guantanamo 
received predictably wide coverage here, but overall the 
reporting has balanced his accusations of torture with 
questions about why he refuses to account for his pre-9/11 
activities in Afghanistan.  End summary. 
 
2. (U) In his first interview since his recent release, 
former Australian Guantanamo detainee Mamdouh Habib appeared 
on Australia's "60-Minutes" program on February 13.  During 
the interview, for which Habib was paid (reportedly 
A$200,000), he provided his version of the circumstances of 
his capture in Pakistan, alleged rendition to Egypt, and 
some three years of detention at Guantanamo.  Habib, 
however, refused to answer questions about the purpose for 
his travel to or his activities while in Afghanistan.  Most 
media coverage has been limited to a recounting of Habib's 
tale.  Editorial criticism, where expressed, has been 
primarily directed at the Australian Government. 
 
3.  (U) Habib's "60 Minutes" interview garnered front-page 
coverage in the national dailies "The Age," "The 
Australian," and "The Sydney Morning Herald."  The liberal 
The Age (cir. 198,500) ran a teaser entitled "Habib silent 
of what he did before 9/11," along with an inside article 
titled "Habib ready to sue, answers reserved for court." 
The conservative The Australian's (cir. 131,000) headline 
read, "Torture claims rebut advice to wife," and contrasted 
the Australian Government's reassurances to Habib's wife of 
humane treatment for her husband with his tale of 
mistreatment and torture.  Appearing above a full-color 
photo of an emotional Habib among family members, the story 
in the left-leaning Sydney Morning Herald (cir. 216,857) was 
headlined, "I'm no terrorist, but I won't say why I was 
there."  "The Sydney Morning Herald" also ran Raymond 
Bonner's February 13 "New York Times" article. 
 
3.  (U) During a February 14 television interview, 
Australian Attorney-General Phillip Ruddock rebutted Habib's 
60 Minutes appearance, saying, "It provided...very little 
new information that hasn't already been outlined by his 
legal advisors and been referred to the United States." 
Responding to Habib's charge that an Australian official was 
present during his alleged torture, Ruddock reiterated, 
"The information that suggests there was an Australian 
official from the Department of Foreign Affairs present when 
he was tortured in Pakistan -- or claims to be tortured in 
Pakistan -- is, on the advice I have received, untrue...We 
treat allegations of torture very seriously." 
 
SCHIEFFER