Australian terror suspect ordered to face re-trial

CANBERRA, Dec 20 (Reuters) The first man to be convicted under Australian anti-terrorism laws was ordered to face a re-trial today, four months after an appeals court freed him.

Joseph Terrence Thomas, nicknamed ''Jihad Jack'' by Australian media, was jailed for five years in April on charges of receiving 3,500 dollars and a plane ticket from an al Qaeda agent after training with Osama bin Laden's network in Afghanistan in 2001.

But he was freed on August. 18 when an appeals court quashed the former taxi driver's conviction, saying an interview with Australian police in Pakistan was inadmissible evidence because it was not voluntary and Thomas had no lawyer to offer advice.

The same court today agreed with Australia's public prosecutor that a television interview in which Thomas admitted taking money to get home could have led to conviction on both charges, ordering the 33-year-old face a re-trial.

''The interests of justice required that there be a retrial, unless Mr Thomas could establish that it would be unjust in all the circumstances for him to be retried,'' the judgment said.

Thomas has been jailed and released three times since his capture in Pakistan in 2002.

Australia, a staunch US ally, has never suffered a major peacetime attack on home soil, but tougher anti-terrorism laws were imposed after the September. 11, 2001, hijacked airliner attacks on the United States.

Thomas is also challenging a control order imposed on him at the request of Australia's government. The nation's highest court is expected to rule on that next year.

REUTERS PB PM1227