November 2, 2004 - 4:30 AM

Australian in Guantanamo says losing sanity

By Michael Perry

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australian terror suspect David Hicks, who has been held in Guantanamo Bay since 2001, says he is on the brink of
madness because of his isolation and treatment.

"I feel as though I'm teetering on the edge of losing my sanity after such a long ordeal, the last year of it being in isolation," Hicks wrote in a
recent letter to his father, released to Reuters on Tuesday.

"I've reached the point where I'm highly confused and lost, overwhelmed if you like. I suffer extreme mood swings every half hour, going from
one extreme to another," said Hicks in the August letter, received by his father Terry Hicks last month.

"The decisions I'm making, which are no doubt important, are often done without thought or sometimes care. All decisions are made in
chains, including being chained to the floor," he said.

Hicks, a 29-year-old convert to Islam arrested in late 2001 during the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan, was among the first group of four al
Qaeda suspects held at the Guantanamo Bay U.S. naval base in Cuba to face a U.S. military tribunal.

Hicks pleaded not guilty to charges of attempted murder, aiding the enemy and conspiracy to commit war crimes and was set for trial on
January 10.

In his letter, Hicks said U.S. authorities had deliberately sought to lower his morale and disadvantage his defence, conducting all interviews
like interrogations.

"Depression seems to be their preferred order of the day," said Hicks. "I spend an average of 350 hours by myself between brief visits. No
doubt this situation has negative psychological effects which will also permanently scar me."

Hicks said he now finds it difficult to picture a life outside Guantanamo Bay.

"My entire world has become this little room and everything beyond is no longer reality," he said. "Even your letters and others are becoming
nothing but an echo, for I can no longer picture what exists outside of Camp Echo."

"LOST THE LIGHT"

Hicks ends his letter to his father with a plea that he no longer wants to make decisions without his father's advise.

"I need to hear your opinions and know that this situation is real, Love David Hicks."

Terry Hicks said on Tuesday he saw first-hand his son's deteriorating mental state when he visited him in mid-August, when he first
appeared before the U.S. tribunal.

"You could tell talking to him that he had lost that light in his eyes, that sparkle was definitely gone, and he was getting quiet distressed telling
us about his mental side and the physical treatment," Terry Hicks told Reuters.

He said his son looked physically well and fit, but his mental state was so fragile that he feared he might have said things in interrogations
that would be used against him.

"He is telling them what they want to hear," he said.

Terry Hicks said he was surprised to receive the uncensored letter because other correspondence from his son had been heavily censored.
The letter was stamped "Approved by U.S. forces, Sept 02, 2004, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba".

"He said he had written a letter about his mental problems ... but he said he doubted it would even get through and if it did it would probably
be pretty well censored," he said.

Australian Mamdouh Habib is also being held in Guantanamo Bay. The Egyptian-born Habib was arrested crossing from Pakistan into
Afghanistan in late 2001, and has been named as part of a second group of Guantanamo Bay detainees who will be charged.

Australia has reached agreement with the United States that if Hicks or Habib are convicted they will be exempt from the death penalty,
which Australia opposes, and will serve any jail term in Australia.