An Australian member of al Qaeda, David Hicks (aka “Muhammed Dawood” and “Abu Muslim al-Austraili”) has been in U.S. military custody since he was captured in November 2001, in Afghanistan trying to kill U.S. forces. According to a charge sheet filed a few years back, he’s been through rigorous training at the al Qaeda camps, has spoken personally with bin Laden about the need to translate terrorist training materials into English for the benefit of English-speaking jihadists, and took orders directly from Muhammad Atef (al Qaeda’s top military commander until he was killed by U.S. forces in late 2001) and Saif al-Adel (a top al Qaeda commander now living in Iran under the safe harbor of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps).

Now, this odd story from The Australian indicates that the U.S. military prosecutor is having conversations with the press about plea negotiations (which certainly would be a no-no in the civilian justice system). More troubling, the talk is about the possibility of cutting some kind of deal that would allow Hicks to be released and returned to Australia in the next few months.

Under lots of public pressure, the Australian government has long been agitating about Hicks’ detention without trial. It must be remembered, though, that the Aussies have been intrepid allies of ours throughout the war. Returning Hicks to Australia could mean the authorities there will ultimately prosecute him for any conduct that has violated Australian law. But it could also mean he’d be released with time-served — meaning only five years for terrorist offenses that, under U.S. law, carry the possibility of life imprisonment.

This is worth watching. Let’s hope we are just being solicitous of a good ally feeling political heat (as we were in connection with the British al Qaeda combatants) and that the Hicks case does not signal a trend for the remaining combatants.