article

Mamdouh Habib (b. 1956) (Arabic: ممدوح حبيب) was born in Egypt, moved to Australia in 1980, became a citizen there, married Maha, had four children, and taught Islam.

1990s

He traveled to New York City, United States, prior to the 1993 World Trade Center bombing during which time he visited Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman (who was later sentenced to life imprisonment for attacking US targets, and being behind the 1993 World Trade Center bombing). Various national security organizations, including the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO), became interested in him at this point.

ASIO and the Federal Police have been tapping his conversations since 1993. They allege that there evidence to indicate he supports atrocities committed by Islamist extremists around the world, including the 1997 Deir el-Bahri massacre in Luxor in his native Egypt in which 58 tourists and four Egyptians were murdered. The victims included 35 Swiss and a foreign resident of Switzerland; nine Japanese, including four couples on their honeymoons; six Britons, including a young mother and her baby; four Germans, a Bulgarian, a Colombian, and a Frenchman.

ASIO played a recording of him praising the Islamic militants who carried out this massacre to a court in May 1999 to obtain permission to continue monitoring him. The Luxor massacre was carried out by the Islamic extremist group Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya of which Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman is the spiritual leader. Mamdouh Habib is a known admirer and supporter of the sheik.

According to the ABC Current Affairs program Four Corners (aired on 20 July 2004) the (Australian) Defense Housing Authority took out an apprehended violence order against him, following a series of threatening phone calls following the loss of a contract Habib had with the organisation. In court his psychiatrist testified that Habib was suffering from major depression and was being treated with Prozac, but that he was not prone to violence. A witness stated at the trial; "He is irritable. He has been preoccupied with a sense of hopelessness about his future. He has become withdrawn and he has been very agitated at home and he has been crying excessively as well. There is no evidence to suggest that he is aggressive or about to become aggressive or violent. He is not dangerous at this point."

According to the same programme, in early 2001 at a meeting with police, Habib was described as showing "signs of hostility towards government organisations and the community generally". The Protective Services Group was asked to do "a detailed threat assessment" of Mr Habib. The final conclusion was that there was no information to support concerns that Habib might carry out an act of violence. The police decided Habib was "a repetitious and vexatious complainant" and that "little credibility could be attributed to any threats or allegations he may make".

2001 to 2005 imprisonment : Pakistan, Egypt, Afghanistan, Cuba

Mr. Habib was arrested in Pakistan, deported to Egypt where he was held for 5 months, transferred to US military custody, imprisoned in Afghanistan, then sent to Camp X-ray, the United States military prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Arrest

Mr Habib was arrested October 5, 2001 while traveling by bus to Karachi, Pakistan. The bus was stopped by local police who arrested Habib and two Germans. The two German citizens arrested with Habib were released shortly thereafter. The Four Corners airing stated that, under intense and lengthy interrogation, the two Germans were asked if they saw Habib, or if he told them he had been in Afghanistan, they said nothing that incriminated Habib. One replied; "No. I didn't see him in the camps I was in. Nor did he tell us that he had been in a training camp." It is alleged that while he was in Afghanistan, Habib took an advanced al-Qaeda training course in a camp near Kabul. It's claimed the course included surveillance and photographing facilities, the establishment and use of safe houses, covert travel and writing secret reports. Australian authorities say that several other men who took part in the course identified Habib as having been there. Evidence to support these claims has not been made public.

Torture allegations

Habib alleges that he was beaten and humiliated in Pakistan after his arrest. Habib alleges that an Australian official was present at some of these interrogations, but the Australian Government has denied this. Habib was then sent to Egypt for five months. His Egyptian captors allegedly shocked him with high-voltage wires, hung him from metal hooks on walls, nearly drowned him, beat him, and attacked him with dogs. "They outsource torture," said Stephen Hopper, Habib's Australian lawyer. "You get your friends and allies to do your dirty work for you." The former coffee shop owner soon confessed to a litany of terrorism-related crimes, including teaching martial arts to several of the September 11 hijackers and planning a hijacking himself. Habib later insisted that his confessions were false and given under "duress and torture."

Habib was then sent to Guantanamo Bay for two years where he alleges further abuse. He says that he was told by interrogators that his family had been killed, and that he was tied to the ground while a prostitute menstruated on him.

Terrorist allegations

The USA accused Habib of having knowledge of the September 11, 2001 attacks, training the hijackers, staying at an al-Qaeda safe house in Afghanistan, conducted surveillance, helping transfer chemical weapons, and planning to hijack the aircraft used in the September 11 attacks; in short being an illegal combatant. However, he was never formally charged.

Habib's Combatant Status Review Tribunal alleged:

''a. Detainee is associate with al Qaida.
  1. ''Detainee admits to travelling to Afghanistan prior to the attacks of September 11, 2001, where he stayed at a known al Qaida safehouse in Kandahar, Afghanistan, which was run by a highly placed al Qaida operative and was protected by an armed guard.
  2. ''Detainee admits to residing at another safehouse in Kabul, Afghanistan where the number of guests and amount of activity significantly increased just prior to the attacks of September 11, 2001.
  3. ''Detainee admits having knowledge of the attacks of September 11, 2001 prior to their occurrence.
  4. ''Shortly before September 11, 2001, Detainee admits to staying at a safehouse in Lahore, Pakistan.
  5. ''In the late 1990s, Detainee communicated with members of the Lebanon-based Hizballah terrorist group, to inquire about joining the Jihad in Afghanistan.
  6. ''Detainee admits that he has ties to individuals involved in the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center in New York City
''b. Detainee engaged in hostilities against the US or its coalition partners.
  1. ''Detainee admits that he conducted surveillance of buildings, hospitals and schools with another detainee.
  2. ''Detainee admits that he assisted with the transfer of chemical weapons at a compound near Kabul, Afghanistan.
  3. ''Detainee states that he trained several of the September 11 hijackers in martial arts and had planned to hijack a plane himself.
  4. ''Detainee was captured along with two German Muslims in Pakistan by Pakistani authorities

2005: Freedom

When the US decided in January not to charge Mr. Habib, Australia sought his release. On January 11, 2005, Australian Attorney-General Phillip Ruddock announced that Habib would be released without charge by the United States and repatriated to Australia within days.

A special plane was chartered by the Australian government (for approximately $500,000) to fly Habib home because the US would not allow him to travel on an ordinary commercial flight. Habib was released by the US Military and returned to Australia on 28 January 2005. With Habib back home, Australian officials have revoked his passport, say he remains under suspicion, and warn his activities will be constantly monitored to ensure he does not become a security threat. He has not been charged and remains relatively free.

The Australian government also wants to prevent Habib being paid by the media for interviews or "making profits from committing a crime" even though he has not been convicted of any crime by any country (it is important to note whilst anti-terrorism laws in Australia currently make it illegal to be involved in terrorist organisations, Habib was already in custody when these laws were introduced and so he can not be convicted under them). The Australian Prime Minister, John Howard, has ruled out any apology to Habib.

Habib told his family everything that had happened since he left Sydney in July 2001. Just in case something bad happens to him, he said, "I want them to know fully everything."

On 16 February 2005, the ABC current affairs programme, The 7:30 Report, featured one of the country's leading trauma and stress psychiatrists, Professor Christopher Tennant from the University of Sydney. Tennant had examined Habib and his conclusion was that Habib was displaying classic symptoms of someone who had been through terrible and brutalising experiences. He also says the evidence was physical as well as mental.

Tennant told how he had seen marks on Habib's body, cigarette burns on his body, and the subsequent examination by another professor of medicine, more expert in physical examination confirmed that Habib had skin discolouration on his right loin which would be consistent with old bruising, which in turn would be consistent with beating.

Professor Tennant also stated he saw an unsigned medical report from Guantanamo Bay that backed up Habib's claim to have been beaten while in US custody; "Well, the main feature of the medical report from Guantanamo was that he had had repeatedly blood in his urine, which is a very significant symptom and a worrying symptom, and that was consistent with his reports both to me and to the specialist physician who also examined him, and was consistent with the fact that, on examination, he had evidence of discolouration to his skin on his right loin, just over his kidney, which in turn was consistent with old bruising and possibly due to being beaten."

On the possibility of whether Habib was faking, Tennant stated; "He would have had to have had access to a very good psychiatric textbook and to be a very competent actor. I don't believe he had either of those two attributes."

On 22 August 2005 Habib was attacked by three men with a knife while walking with his wife near his home in Guildford. He told police that he was followed by a car that cut its headlights as he and his wife, Maha, went for a walk just after midnight, and that as the men ran away the person holding the knife had yelled "something like 'this should keep you quiet"'.

On 29 March 2006, Habib and his son Moustafa said that they witnessed the aftermath of a double murder in the Sydney suburb of Granville. When they reported the murder to police, Habib alleges they were abused, assaulted and interrogated by police officers. On 3 April, he announced he intended to sue New South Wales Police for false imprisonment and assault.

Family members

Habib has four children, including twin sons Ahmed Mandouh Habib and Islam Hassam.

Ahmed competed in the 2005 City to Surf.

Bob Brown invited Ahmed Habib to parliament to attend George Bush's October 24, 2003 speech to parliament. Ahmed was escorted from parliament after calling out "What about my father's rights?"

See also

References

  1. Habib to sue NSW police, The Age, April 3 2006
  2. Australian official saw Habib tortured: report, Sydney Morning Herald, January 6 2005
  3. Unclassified documents from Habib's, Combatant Status Review Tribunal - pages 16-17
  4. US wants Habib shackled on flight, Sydney Morning Herald, January 21 2005
  5. Men trailed and knifed me - Habib, Sydney Morning Herald, August 24 2005
  6. Son shown door after asking about Habib, Sydney Morning Herald, October 23 2003

External links

1956 births | Australian people | Egyptian people | Extrajudicial prisoners of the United States | Living people | Torture victims | Muslim Australians | Egyptian Australians | Guantanamo Bay detainees

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Mamdouh Habib".

Home Page • arts • business • computers • games • health • hospitals • home • kids & teens • news • physicians • recreation• reference • regional • science • shopping • society • sports • world