Honeymoon killer wants to see deal or stay

CONVICTED honeymoon killer Gabe Watson will fight to stay in Australia.

CONVICTED honeymoon killer Gabe Watson will fight to stay in Australia unless the federal government spells out an assurance from Washington that he won't face execution at home.

The US Justice Department yesterday cleared the way for Watson's deportation by guaranteeing to the Australian government that the death penalty would not be "sought, imposed or carried out" were he to be tried and convicted of his wife's murder.

But Brisbane solicitor Adrian Braithwaite said he would advise Watson to apply for political asylum in Australia if the government stuck to its refusal to release the wording of the US guarantee.

"I want to see for my own eyes and satisfy myself of its legality," Mr Braithwaite told The Australian. "I have no doubt they'll claim there's some sort of privilege attached to it . . . but if that transpires we'll need to make some sort of other decision.

"We can apply for a protection visa, which would have the effect of delaying his deportation."

It is understood the government will not budge, on the grounds that the advice from the US carries diplomatic confidentiality. The office of Immigration Minister Chris Bowen declined to comment last night.

Watson withdrew consent to return to his home state of Alabama -- where prosecutors are seeking indictments against him for murder and kidnapping -- after Australian Immigration officials sought his written acknowledgement that the death penalty could be applied.

At the time, the former bubblewrap salesman was nearing the end of a prison sentence in Queensland for the 2003 manslaughter of his new wife, Tina Thomas, during a scuba dive on the Great Barrier Reef. They had been married only 11 days.

The impasse forced Watson into immigration detention on his release from jail last week, as the Immigration Department scrambled to secure an explicit undertaking from Washington that the death penalty was off the table.

Mr Bowen said yesterday the government was satisfied that international treaty obligations, preventing Australia from sending a person to a place where the death penalty was a real risk, had been met and arrangements were being made to deport the American.

Watson, 33, served 18 months' jail in Queensland after pleading guilty to a unique form of manslaughter -- failure to render assistance to a person in peril. During their ill-fated dive off Townsville on October 22, 2003, Thomas's air supply failed, and Watson admitted he swam away from her as she sank to the sea floor and asphyxiated.

Alabama prosecutors are expected to allege that Watson plotted to kill her for an insurance payout. However, he has maintained he did nothing to cause her death, and his offence was in effect to have been a bad "dive buddy".

Mr Braithwaite said he had been informed by Immigration on Wednesday that the US Justice Department had backed an assurance to Queensland by Alabama's outgoing Attorney-General, Troy King, that the death penalty would not be sought if and when Watson were brought to trial.

Mr Braithwaite said he had also asked to be given 48 hours' notice of Watson's deportation.