Hicks pleas guilty

Australian detainee David Hicks has pleaded guilty at a military court at Guantanamo Bay to charges of providing material support for terrorism.

The 31-year-old Muslim convert was accused of attending al-Qaeda training camps and fighting with the Taleban. The plea means that Hicks, who has been at the camp for five years, will return to Australia to serve his sentence. Hicks is the first detainee at the detention camp to face terror charges under new US rules.

He was charged under the new Military Commissions Act, which human rights groups condemn. 'Earliest opportunity'Hicks appeared at the hearing wearing khaki prison fatigues and with hair down to his chest - grown, his lawyer said, to pull over his eyes at night to keep out the light and allow him to get to sleep.

As the proceedings got under way, Hicks was formally charged and initially deferred entering a plea.

But later on his lawyers told the judge he was pleading guilty.

Other charges against him, including attempted murder, have been dropped.

Prosecution and defence lawyers now have until 1600 on Tuesday (2000GMT) to reach agreement on a plea deal establishing his sentence.