Asia News – 2005-01-06 22:42:26

http://asia.news.yahoo.com/050106/ap/d87e9uog1.html

(January 6, 2005) — An Australian terror suspect being held at Guantanamo Bay has alleged he was tortured with dogs and electrodes while being interrogated in Egypt, it was reported Thursday.

Mamdouh Habib, a 48-year-old Egyptian-born father of four from Sydney, was arrested in Pakistan near the Afghanistan border three weeks after the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States.

Australia believes he was later detained for a period in Egypt before being transferred to the US military base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Egypt has not confirmed his presence in that country.

Habib is one of 15 detainees deemed eligible to be tried before a US military commission.

The Australian Broadcasting Corp. (ABC) radio reported Thursday that it had obtained previously sealed court documents detailing Habib’s allegations of torture while in detention in Egypt.

In the documents, Habib alleged he was subjected to routine beatings and torture, and was coerced into making confessions that were not true, the ABC reported.

Habib said he was regularly suspended from hooks on the wall of his cell while his feet were shocked with electrodes.

He also described being forced to stand on his toes for hours in a flooded room, struggling to keep his head above the water, and being threatened with dogs.

Habib also alleged that, prior to being sent to Egypt, he was inappropriately photographed by his US captors in the presence of an Australian government official.

Habib told his lawyers about the alleged torture several weeks ago, after it was rumored that US authorities would seek to have him returned to Egypt. The ABC said the documents would be used by lawyers in a future court action to prevent the move.

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