David Hicks: A Hobby, A Million Dollars And ‘Lovely’ Osama Bin Laden

David Hicks, 32, was captured with Taleban forces in Afghanistan in 2001, and spent five years at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp.

His father Terry Hicks describes his son’s religious hobby:

“He took an interest in something and it went wrong.”

A hobby. An innocent hobby. As the BBC notes: “Hicks, a convert to Islam who later renounced the faith, admitted training with al-Qaeda and meeting its leader Osama bin Laden, whom he described as ‘lovely’, according to police evidence presented in court”

And:

“There’ll be some sort of apology I suppose for what he’s supposed to have done and what people believe he’s done - he’ll cover that side of it”

As Tim Blair says: “Feel the sincerity!”

In Australia:

David Hicks has been released from prison … A small crowd of mostly elderly supporters were outside the prison as Hicks left, many holding banners reading ‘This could have been your son’ and ‘David Hicks is no threat’.

It could have been your son - had your son trained to kill with Muslim fundamentalists. Or if your son was interested in making some money:

A MILLION-DOLLAR international bidding war is set to erupt for rights to David Hicks’ story.

Australian and US media organisations are expected to fight it out for interviews, book deals and movie rights.

While legislation prevents Hicks from personally profiting from his story, his father Terry has reportedly indicated the family had been advised on possible loopholes in the laws.

Crime can pay…