I pray that Mr. Habib gets every single bit of compensation (and more) that he deserves for the despicable treatment he has received following the witchhunt against innocent Muslims that resulted in his torture and incarceration.

---

Former terror suspect Mamdouh Habib has been given the green light to claim damages from the publisher of Sydney newspaper The Daily Telegraph over a defamatory article about his alleged torture.

Mr Habib, a former Guantanamo Bay inmate who also recently got permission to sue the federal government over his treatment at the notorious US jail in Cuba, won his case against the newspaper on appeal on Tuesday.

"I believe this is mercy from God," Mr Habib told AAP after the ruling, adding that he intended to claim damages.

"The door for justice has been opened wide today."

The NSW Court of Appeal reversed an earlier ruling, which found in favour of the Telegraph and its publisher, Nationwide News, on March 7, 2008.

It is the latest development in the five-year case, which is now likely to rumble on further.

The case will be sent to a common law court for damages to be assessed.

Nationwide News and the Telegraph have not said whether they intend to appeal the latest ruling, but a spokesman told AAP "we are considering our position".

Mr Habib was not in court in Sydney on Tuesday to hear the brief judgment read out.

He began the proceedings in 2005 after the Telegraph article by Piers Akerman, headlined "Mr Habib, it's time to tell the full story", was published.

The article cast doubt on claims Mr Habib previously made about torture while he was detained as a terror suspect.

In the defamation trial, a jury initially said that the article was capable of defaming Mr Habib.

But Justice Peter McClellan ruled the article was true and in the public interest.

Mr Habib's lawyers launched an appeal following the case.

Tuesday's judgment effectively strikes out Justice McClellan's ruling, finds in Mr Habib's favour and grants him the right to damages, to be determined in another court.

It also forces Nationwide News to pay the full costs of the trial to date, expected to run into millions of dollars.

In February this year, the Federal Court ruled Mr Habib can sue the Australian government over his treatment in Guantanamo Bay.

He claims Australian authorities were complicit and sometimes present during torture he allegedly endured while detained in Guantanamo Bay, Afghanistan, Egypt and Pakistan.

Mr Habib was captured in Pakistan in the immediate aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States.

He was transferred to Egypt and then the US military camp at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.

Mr Habib was released after five years in custody but was never charged with an offence.

Source: NineMSN

Quote:


Why do you pray he gets more than he deserves? Is that the sort of God you deal with? Or does your God look unfavorably upon greedy requests?