Hicks in for the long haul By MICHAEL McKENNA 31aug02 AUSTRALIAN terror suspects David Hicks and Mamdouh Habib face a likely wait of more than a year for their legal battle against detention in a Cuban jail to be resolved American lawyers for the two men yesterday said the appeal process, expected to be completed in the US Supreme Court, was facing extensive delays under the weight of the legal system. The appeals, and counter appeals, follow the US District Court decision this month to detain the men without trial. Hicks, captured in Afghanistan, and Habib in Pakistan by local authorities, are being held in a maximum security prison at the US Navy base at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. Both are accused, with the 596 other detainees at the navy base, of having links to al-Qaeda. "The legal system here is very slow at the moment and the appeal to the District Court decision alone will take a few months," said their lawyer, Joseph Margulies. Some good news though... Whale free of nets 31 August 2002 A HUMPBACK whale thought to have drowned after being caught in shark nets on the Gold Coast found some new friends yesterday as it was finally untangled by rescuers. 'Enduro," was towing an anchor,shark net and ropes/chains on a slow trek south...