AUSTRALIA. NO DEATH PENALTY FOR GUANTANAMO INMATE

Australia has received assurances the United States will not seek the death penalty for Australian Guantanamo Bay inmate David Hicks if it brings new charges against him, Australian Attorney General Philip Ruddock.
"There is no doubt that in the military commission process dealing with serious terrorist offences, the United States might in appropriate cases seek to apply the death penalty," Ruddock told Sky Television.
"But we have been given a specific assurance, which has been reiterated to me on a number of occasions, that the death penalty would not be sought in David Hicks' case," he said.
Hicks was detained by US forces in Afghanistan in late 2001 and was to have been one of the first Guantanamo detainees to face a military trial on charges of attempted murder, aiding the enemy and conspiracy. He pleaded not guilty to the charges.