KOSOVO VOLUNTEER LINKED TO AL-QAEDA

Thursday, August 1, 2002

David Hicks training with the UCK prior to joining the Taliban

The case of Hicks is already being widely mis-reported as international journalists studiously avoid checking their information with other sources. Under the ridiculous label "Soldier of Fortune," CNN state that Hicks converted to Islam whilst fighting with the UCK in "Bosnia" (huh??) and mis-labelled a grainy photograph of Hicks taken in Albania in 1999 as being in "Bosnia." We can categorically state that Hicks never served in BiH.

He surrendered to Northern Alliance forces in Afghanistan on 9th December 2001 near the Tora Bora caves complex used by Al-Qa'eda. He has no criminal record nor was he involved in any military activity prior to Kosova. In early 1999 he approached Channel 7 wanting to sell a story about fighting as a mercenary in South Africa or Afghanistan.

The details of his service in Kosova comes to us direct from the UCK with its full knowledge and permission. The information was freely available to anybody who bothered to ask:

He joined a group of the UCK circa February 1999. He was accommodated at one of three UCK training camps in the Tropolje area in Albania for six weeks. He was moved to another UCK training camp as a prospective instructor after he made exaggerated claims about being in the Australian Army. He had no previous military experience whatsoever. It soon became apparent these assertions were false and his claims were widely dismissed by the UCK. Nevertheless he was placed on active duty near the border town of Kukes with 139 Brigade, commanded by Radimas Beshim. His incompetence soon came to notice and he was relegated to a training camp away from the border. He was given a second chance and rejoined the brigade in Kukes but still couldn't manage (remember, the UCK itself was a largely untrained citizen army) so he was relegated again to a training camp and effectively kept out of the way. After NATO troops entered Kosova Hicks did not accompany any UCK units into the province. He was demobilised in June 1999, went back to the Albanian capital Tirana where the UCK purchased an aeroplane ticket for the Islamic Republic of Iran (via Germany) at Hicks' own request. The Kosovan authorities have heard nothing from him since. He was in Albania for no more than 14-16 weeks and never entered Kosova.

Hicks was not a mercenary. He was legally recruited into a legitimate armed force and at all times abided by the terms and conditions of the Geneva Conventions. CFIVA can confirm that Hicks was never paid more than that of a private soldier of the UCK, if at all.

Note: It was usual for the UCK to reward its international volunteers with their passage home, as a gesture of thanks.

He returned to Australia in late 1999 and claimed to have been through six weeks training, boasted he had been in the trenches, killed a few Serbs and had seen a few of his comrades killed. The last two points are a mild exaggeration but have neither been proven or disproved.

Upon his return to Australia (not Bosnia) he converted to Islam and took the name Mohammed Dawood. He was attending a mosque several times a week but in November 1999 spoke of going to Pakistan to increase his knowledge of Islam. Within a week or two he had left the country.

The Australian government says he then went to Pakistan and trained with the militant Islamic group Lashkar-i-Taiba who are fighting in the Kashmir region against the Indian Army. This group is believed to have links with Al-Qa'eda and Osama Bin Laden.

The Americans say he entered Afghanistan in late 2000 and undertook "extensive" training with Al-Qaﾒeda. He telephoned his family on September 28th to say he was fighting for the Taliban.

After his capture, he was handed over to US Special Forces and transferred via the USS Peleliu to the detention camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Two other white Australians are also being held there. The US say they will hand him over to the Australian authorities if it can be promised that Hicks will be dealt with severely. He could be charged with treason and murder if he is connected to the WTC attacks in New York on September 11th. He could also be charged under the Foreign Incursions Act, which carries a 14 year sentence for 'hostile activities in foreign countries.' Needless to say pro-Serb websites have been doing overtime on this one.

Apparently Hicks has now hoodwinked gullible interrogators into believing he was a "relatively senior member of Al-Qaeda." True to his apparent form, Hicks completely fails to comprehend the seriousness of his situation. Nobody of course has bothered to check Hicks' past with the Kosovan authorities. Regardless of whether he is found guilty of the charges levelled against him, Hicks has been blacklisted by CFIVA for bringing the international volunteer movement in Kosova into disrepute.

CFIVA