(For related story see [nSYD86951] March 25 (Reuters) - Australian David Hicks, 31, who has been in U.S. custody in Guantanamo Bay for five years, will be the first al Qaeda suspect to be formally charged under new military commission rules when his preliminary hearing opens on March 26. Here are 10 facts on Australia's only Guantanamo Bay inmate. FROM ADELAIDE TO AFGHANISTAN: * Born in Adelaide in 1975, Hicks worked as a casual labourer and jackeroo before moving to Japan to train race horses. Media reports of the Kosovo war drew him to Albania, where he joined and served with the KLA (Kosovo Liberation Army). * Hicks began studying Islam on his return to Australia, his father Terry Hicks says, then headed to Pakistan in 1999 to further his studies on Islam and ancient Arabic. * He was detained in Afghanistan in Dec. 2001 by Northern Alliance forces fighting alongside the U.S. DETENTION AND CHARGES: * The U.S. military charged Hicks with supporting terrorism by attending al Qaeda training courses, conducting surveillance on the U.S. embassy in Kabul, guarding a tank outside Kandahar airport and joining Taliban and al Qaeda fighters engaged in combat against coalition forces. A second charge of attempted murder was dropped. * Hicks is the first suspected al Qaeda or Taliban member to be charged under the Military Commissions Act passed by the U.S. Congress last year. Planning to plead not guilty, he has complained of torture at the prison camp. * Hicks, who has a U.K.-born mother, is trying to win British citizenship. If he wins, Hicks hopes London will secure his release, as it did for nine Britons held in Guantanamo. * Mamdouh Habib, another Australian in Guantanamo, was released without charge in Jan. 2005. NEW SUPPORT AT HOME: * Ending Hicks' detention at Guantanamo Bay has become a popular cause in Australia, spawning web sites and protest songs. * His Pentagon-appointed defence counsel Major Michael Mori is seen as a persuasive advocate, and Australian computer entrepreneur Dick Smith has donated A$60,000 to cover legal fees. * Prime Minister John Howard, facing a tough election in the second half of 2007, has pressed Washington for a speedy trial. Sources: Reuters, www.fairgofordavid.org
