When a nation learns of a traitor in their midst, that nation's people show reactions that reflect anguish and torment.
Such was the case in the United States when it was learned that a US citizen had been captured while fighting for the Taliban.
This evening in Australia, the shocking news is that an Australian, "one of our own", has also been captured by the Northern Alliance in Afghanistan. The captive had received training from the al-Qaeda movement.
Here is tonights' headline news 'downunder':
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21:16 AEDST Wed 12 Dec 2001
Aussie al-Qaeda fighter could face murder charges
DARYL WILLIAMS SAYS AN AUSTRALIAN CAPTURED IN AFGHANISTAN TRAINED WITH OSAMA BIN LADEN''S NETWORK.
An Australian man captured fighting for terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda group in Afghanistan could face murder charges or a long stint in prison.
The 26-year-old, named by news reports tonight as South Australian David Hicks, was captured by Northern Alliance troops in Afghanistan on or around December 9, the federal government said.
Attorney-General Daryl Williams refused to reveal any details of the man's capture or his identity, but said he was in good health.
While his immediate fate was unknown, there was speculation Hicks could be held in a US detention camp with American Muslim convert John Walker, the only other westerner so far caught fighting with the Taliban.
The Australian had entered Afghanistan in 2000 and trained extensively with the al-Qaeda group, Attorney General Daryl Williams said.
He had left Australia in mid-1999, fighting alongside ethnic Albanian Muslims in the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) against Serbia.
Later that year he travelled to Pakistan, where he trained with the militant Lashkar-e-Taiba group, which claims to be fighting a holy war against India's occupation of Kashmir but which is also believed to have links with bin-Laden.
"He has no known criminal record and has not previously come to notice in a security context," Mr Williams said.
An Adelaide man who claimed to know Hicks indicated the Australian was serving as a mercenary rather than someone committed to a cause.
"I think he was just more in it for the money and the excitement," the man, identified only as Nick, told Channel Ten.
The Australian, shown on TV posing with KLA colleagues with a bazooka on his shoulder, had seen action in Kosovo.
"He had gone though six weeks basic training, he'd been in the trenches, he'd killed a few people, you know...confirmed kills, and had a few of his mates killed as well."
Channel Seven said three years ago, a David Hicks had approached the network wanting to sell a story about fighting as a mercenary in South Africa or Afghanistan.
The man's capture follows the arrest in India of another alleged al-Qaeda supporter who planned terror attacks in Australia to coincide with the September 11 attacks in the US.
Mr Williams said authorities were liaising with overseas agencies about the latest case and the man's family had been interviewed by Australian Federal Police and ASIO officers overnight.
While it was unclear where the man was captured, his arrest coincided with the fall of the Taliban stronghold of Kandahar and the beginning of attacks against the al-Qaeda's mountain hideout at Tora Bora.
He may be kept in a detention camp being built by US Marines at Camp Rhino, the desert base in southern Afghanistan where Australia's special forces troops are also based.
©AAP 2001
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Cheers,
Ozzie
"It's better to light a candle than to curse the darkness."
Anonymous