John Altenburg, the appointing authority for the US military commissions, lifted the stay on Hicks' trial and directed the presiding officer to hold a hearing within 30 days to resolve preliminary issues, the Pentagon said.

A second session would be convened a short time after to pick other commission members and to resolve any other outstanding motions, the Pentagon said.

"This decision clears the way for the Hicks trial by military commission to resume at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in the near future," it said in a statement.

No trial date was set in the Hicks case but the action in effect opened a window from October 3 through October 20 during which the case might be heard, Pentagon officials said.

Major Michael Mori, Hicks' military lawyer, denounced the move.

"The lifting of the abeyance in the case of David Hicks makes clear that David Hicks will be the guinea pig for this unfair and rigged show trial," he said

"The military commission system will not provide a full and fair trial, whether it starts today, in a month or in three months. The rules are constantly changing. The system is controlled by those who have already condemned Mr Hicks," he said.

The action followed a federal appeals court ruling in July that reaffirmed President George W. Bush's authority to order trials of war-on-terror detainees by special military commissions in the case of Salim Ahmed Hamdan.

Lawyers are appealing that case to the Supreme Court, but Pentagon officials said they had decided to proceed with the Hicks case anyway.

"The Australians have indicated their desire to see the Hicks case move forward as expeditiously as possible, but at the same time we are cautious to ensure that he receives a full and fair trial," a Pentagon official said.

But Mori said it was hypocritical to try Hicks when other Taliban detainees were being sent home, and former Taliban commanders were running for seats in the Afghan parliament.

"Yet, Mr Hicks will be sacrificed as the scapegoat for the war in Afghanistan even though he never hurt one person in Afghanistan," Mori said.

A 30-year-old convert to Islam, Hicks was captured in Afghanistan where he allegedly fought alongside the ruling Taliban in a war against US-led forces that was prompted by attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001.

He faces charges of conspiracy to commit war crimes, attempted murder by an unprivileged belligerent and aiding the enemy.

Altenburg lifted the stay only on Hicks trial.

But three other detainees at Guantanamo also face charges and trial by military commission besides Hicks: Hamdan, Ali Hamza al Bahlul of Yemen, and Ibrahim al-Qosi of Sudan.

A Pentagon official said Hicks' case was chosen because it was ready to go forward.

Two other cases, Hamdan and al-Qosi, remain suspended pending a Supreme Court decision on the Hamdan appeal, Pentagon officials said.

The officials said they were not ready to go forward with the Al-Bahlul case because they were still trying to arrange defense counsel for him. Al-Bahlul has demanded to represent himself.

The Pentagon has made some changes to the commission since the trials were suspended in November, following a lower court ruling that declared them unconstitutional.

Previously, the cases were to be tried by three- to seven-member panels of military officers who would serve as both judge and jury.

Now, a presiding officer will decide issues of law, while the other panel members will decide the verdicts and the sentence.

The rule change also allows the presiding officer to present classified evidence in closed session if he concludes that closing the hearing would not deny the defendant a full and fair trial.

Only a dozen of the estimated 505 detainees at Guantanamo have been declared eligible for trial by military commission.

All rights reserved. © 2004 Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.

Related Links
SpaceWar
Search SpaceWar
Subscribe To SpaceWar Express