Guantanamo detainee David Hicks agrees to plea deal

GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba - The prison sentence of an Australian detainee who pleaded guilty to a terrorism-related charge would be limited to seven years under terms of a plea bargain, a military judge at Guantanamo Bay said Friday.

At the tribunal, the military accused Hicks of training with al-Qaida, taking up arms to join the Taliban and fighting U.S. forces and their allies in Afghanistan after the Sept. 11 attacks.

Hicks is not accused of actually shooting anyone. A convert to Islam who has since abandoned the faith, he sold his gun to raise cab fare and was captured trying to flee to Pakistan by taxi in December 2001.

Hicks was in the first group of prisoners brought to Guantanamo in January 2002 and has said he was abused by his captors, which the U.S. military denies.