*Ø* Blogmanac | Govt not asking right questions about Hicks: lawyer

"The official US lawyer for Australian prisoners being held in Guantanamo Bay in Cuba has raised concerns about their treatment and says the Howard government is not asking the right questions.

"Pentagon-appointed Major Michael Mori says David Hicks's Australian lawyer and family are not allowed to say anything about mistreatment.

"Major Mori told ABC's PM program the Australian Government needs to ask the right questions to actually find out how the prisoners are being treated.

"'If they want to truly know what has happened to David Hicks, both in Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay, they just need to ask and come to the source, to us, and we'll tell them,' he said.

"'It seems that they just want to keep relying on assurances from the same people who've locked up David Hicks for over two years and I think they need to start asking the right questions to the right people.'

"He says it would be great if the Australian Government approached him and asked about Mr Hicks's and Mamdouh Habib's treatment.

"'Well, I think you know that the Australian Government worked it out so that the US Government would allow us to provide them information, the Australian Government would get the good and the bad from me,' he said.

"'I'm going to ensure that the truth be told and David would co-operate and that they'd hear about the good treatment and hear about any bad treatment as well.'

"Maj Mori says he is concerned about what impact the treatment of detainees might have on people who may be witnesses against Mr Hicks.

"He says interrogation techniques might have been used to manipulate peoples' stories."
Source: ABC Oz