Aussie detainee seeks British citizenship

LONDON — An Australian being held at the U.S. prison camp in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, won a court battle Tuesday to be registered as a British citizen — a step he hopes will secure his release.

David Hicks, a former kangaroo skinner and Muslim convert from Adelaide, was caught in Afghanistan in December 2001, allegedly fighting with the ousted Taliban regime. His mother was born in Britain and he sought British citizenship in the hopes that Britain would take up his case with the U.S. as it did for nine Britons who were released from the camp on the eastern tip of Cuba.

Hicks, who has pleaded not guilty to charges of attempted murder, aiding the enemy and conspiracy to attack civilians, commit terrorism and destroy property, is one of nine prisoners selected for military trials. Some 500 men are being held at the prison camp, some of whom have been held for nearly four years without charge.

Last month, the British Home Office rejected Hicks' application for British citizenship on character grounds, but his lawyers appealed the decision.

On Tuesday, Justice Andrew Collins ruled that Home Secretary Charles Clarke had no power to reject Hicks' citizenship application.