Return of Habib's passport a 'big victory'

27 May 2011, 7:44 pm   -   Source: AAP
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Former Guantanamo Bay detainee Mamdouh Habib says the return of his Australian passport has given him back his dignity.

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Former Guantanamo Bay detainee Mamdouh Habib says the return of his Australian passport has given him back his dignity.

"I have received money, I have received a passport, I have received everything, my dignity back," the Sydney father of four told AAP on Friday.

But the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO), which on Friday confirmed it had approved the passport, said its return did not mean it had recanted its previous assessment of Mr Habib.

"An ASIO non-adverse security assessment was issued to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in respect of Mr Habib's March 2011 passport application," a spokeswoman said.

"This was not a recanting of its previous assessment but rather a new assessment based on new information, circumstances and factors relevant to the issue of whether Mr Habib currently poses a risk to Australia's security."

Egyptian-born Mr Habib was detained in Pakistan as a suspected terrorist in October 2001, before being held in Egypt, Afghanistan and then Guantanamo Bay. His passport was cancelled after his 2005 release from the US military prison.

In 2006, the then foreign minister Alexander Downer refused to issue Mr Habib a new passport, based on an adverse security assessment by ASIO.

Despite having never been charged, Mr Habib was unable to travel because ASIO continued to maintain he was a threat to national security.

Mr Habib has previously said this caused him to miss four overseas funerals of family members, including his mother, father and sister. On Friday, he said had never posed a terrorist threat to Australia or anyone else.

"I have never been a threat. I am not a threat. I love Australia, it is my own, every single one of my (children) was born in this country, in this land," Mr Habib told the Ten Network.

Mr Habib's wife, Maha, said it was a victory for the family.

"It is a big, big victory for us and for the rest of the Australian people to see how the Australian government has been mistreating its own citizen," she said. Mr Habib's lawyer Stephen Hopper told Ten the Howard government "was derelict in their duty to Mr Habib".

Prime Minister Julia Gillard in January ordered an inquiry into Australia's role in Mr Habib's arrest, amid claims Australia had been complicit in his 2001 CIA rendition to Egypt, where he was detained and tortured.

Ms Gillard's move also followed a secret federal payout to Mr Habib, reportedly triggered by witness statements implicating Australian officials in his detention in a Cairo military prison.

The inquiry will review thousands of national intelligence agency documents relating to the case, as well as documents from Mr Habib's civil case against the commonwealth.

It is due to be completed by the end of 2011, although federal Attorney-General Robert McClelland has said only parts of its findings will be made public.

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