Habib 'admitted under duress to Qantas hijack plot'

FORMER terrorism suspect Mamdouh Habib told Egyptian interrogators under "extreme duress" that he was going to hijack a Qantas flight

FORMER terrorism suspect Mamdouh Habib told Egyptian interrogators under "extreme duress" that he was going to hijack a Qantas flight and had trained six of the September 11 hijackers in martial arts.

But the Sydney man withdrew all his so-called confessions when questioned by US military officials at Guantanamo Bay in 2002, saying he had lied to the authorities in Egypt while under interrogation.

Mr Habib's 2004 file -- one of hundreds released by WikiLeaks yesterday -- shows US officials thought the former taxi driver was a "high-risk" detainee.

Mr Habib was arrested by Pakistani authorities on his way out of Afghanistan in 2001 on suspicion of being a member of al-Qa'ida. He was sent to Egypt and spent six months with interrogators before being transferred to US custody.

He was released without charge from Guantanamo Bay in 2005 and returned to Australia. Mr Habib has since settled legal action against the federal government and is suing the Egyptian government, claiming he was tortured through electric shocks, cigarette burns, attack by dogs, sexual violation and water torture. Yesterday he hotly denied any involvement in terrorist activity.

Mr Habib's Guantanamo Bay file says he had direct and personal access to a senior al-Qa'ida official but US interrogators said his value to the Islamist terror group was as an Australian organiser.

Signed by US Brigadier General Jay Hood, the report says Mr Habib was of "high intelligence value" due to his knowledge of al-Qa'ida's financing, basic training and safe houses.

General Hood said there were "serious intelligence gaps" regarding Mr Habib because his claims and denials did not fully explain his frequent travels to Afghanistan, Egypt and the US.

"Among the questions that remain unanswered: how did he afford to travel extensively as he did while unemployed . . . was any of the information he provided to the Egyptians valid?" he wrote.

"Until this detainee is fully exploited and a detailed timeline for international travels is established, he should be considered high-risk and of high intelligence value."

The report shows Mr Habib had a contract with the Australian Army in the 1990s when he cleaned soldiers' vacated apartments.

He lost the contract and successfully sued the army for $15,000.

Mr Habib later received a disability pension for depression, and travelled to Pakistan via the United Arab Emirates.