Proceedings have also been suspended agaoint the Australian detainees, although our government is taking a rather different line from Britain's.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, what's happened in relation to David Hicks?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, what's happened is that it's been agreed, it's been agreed with the Americans that the military commission process for the time being will be put on hold. Two senior officials from the Attorney General's Department, namely the Secretary Mr Robert Cornall and the relevant branch head, left Australia this morning to go to Washington to conduct discussions with the Americans. It's likely, if necessary, that Chris Ellison, the Justice Minister, who in our system is the equivalent of the British Attorney General, will join the discussions at the concluding stages. And we'll be having discussions with the Americans about ensuring that if these people are tried in the United States, the process will be as transparent as possible and as compatible with the notions of justice and fair dealing that we regard as meeting those requirements in Australia.
JOURNALIST:
Do you expect the military trials to proceed after these negotiations?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, the process is yet to be finalised and I don't want to pre-empt the discussion. One of the things you've got to bear in mind is that it's quite conceivable in these situations that somebody may have committed an offence under American law and not committed an offence under Australian law. And it could well be that if Mr Hicks, for example, were to come back to Australia, it may not be a prosecutable offence, yet if he's retained in the United States there is an offence.
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