Mamdouh Habib, arriving in Sydney.

11.59am
Habib to get right of reply
By Paul Osborne
February 22, 2005
http://dailytelegraph.news.com.au/story.jsp?sectionid=1260&storyid=2705947
THE Federal parliament has offered Mamdouh Habib a chance to respond to evidence given to a committee by the top spy agency ASIO and the federal police.

ASIO chief Dennis Richardson and AFP commissioner Mick Keelty last week said Mr Habib, who was released last month without charge after more than three years in US detention on suspicion of terrorism, remained of security interest.

They told a Senate estimates hearing Mr Habib was a suspected mercenary who trained in terrorism methods and was supported by al-Qaeda during an overseas trip in 2001.
Mr Habib's lawyer Stephen Hopper said he had received a letter from the parliament offering an opportunity to respond to the Senate estimates committee evidence.

Mr Hopper said he would seek further information from the Senate before taking any action.
"A fax letter that said there would be some transcript attached to it - we can't respond until we get that original correspondence," Mr Hopper told AAP today.
"They've asked him to respond in writing."

Mr Hopper said he would prefer that Mr Habib was given the chance to tell his story to a full Senate inquiry.
"We wouldn't be prepared to have him appear at nothing but a full Senate inquiry," Mr Hopper said.
"The government would have to put everything on the table, from ASIO's first interest in him to their conduct up until his release."
Mr Habib's first opportunity to tell his story in a court is expected soon with an application to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal to get his passport back.
But, as with other AAT cases, it will be heard without public or media scrutiny.
Some evidence may also be the subject of a certificate from the attorney-general, which would ban the disclosure of sensitive security material.

Mr Hopper said that if he was dissatisfied with the terms attached by the government to some evidence during the tribunal application he would consider taking it to the Federal Court for appeal on grounds of procedural fairness.
"We are not saying there is any concern yet, but if we were unhappy with reasons for the certificate we could challenge that," he said.
Meanwhile, Mr Hopper today denied media reports quoting security sources who said that Mr Habib had been trained in advanced urban terrorist methods in Afghanistan before September 11, 2001.

"My client denies being a member of any terrorist organisation, assisting any terrorist organisation ... and it's not helpful that that these comments are being made in newspapers when there are matters before the tribunal," he said.
Mr Hopper maintains Mr Habib was in Pakistan seeking a business opportunity.
AAP