GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba — The father of an Australian who pleaded guilty to providing support for terrorists said yesterday he thought that the defence and prosecution were likely to strike a deal that would allow him to return to his homeland this year to serve his sentence.David Hicks, a 31-year-old former kangaroo skinner, entered the surprise plea Monday at the first session of the tribunals set up after the US Supreme Court struck down the Pentagon’s previous efforts to try Guantanamo prisoners.

The military said he could be sentenced this week and will likely be returned to Australia this year to serve his time there.

Hicks appeared focused as his Pentagon-appointed attorney told the judge that his client was pleading guilty to one of two counts of providing material support for terrorism. Asked by the judge if this was correct, Hicks said solemnly, “Yes, sir.”

Hicks’ father, Terry Hicks, told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio yesterday he believed his son had pleaded guilty as part of a bargain with prosecutors that would get him out of the Guantanamo prison: “It’s a way to get home, and he’s told us he just wants to get home.”

“He has been through five years of absolute hell,” Terry Hicks added. “I think anyone in that position, if they were offered anything, I think they’d take it.”

Hicks, a Muslim convert, allegedly attended al-Qaida camps in Afghanistan, conducting surveillance on the British and American embassies as part of his training. But he remained on the margins once the US invaded to oust the Taliban following the September 11 attacks. He eventually joined al-Qaida fighters hours before the front lines collapsed and was captured as he tried to flee, according to the US military.

The count he pleaded guilty to says he intentionally provided support to a terror organisation involved in hostilities against the United States. He denied the charge that he supported for preparation, or in carrying out, an act of terrorism.

Defence attorneys said a gag order by the military judge prevented them from discussing details of the plea until a sentence is announced and it could not be immediately determined whether there was a formal plea bargain.

Hicks’ Australian lawyer, David McLeod, had said earlier his client was considering a plea deal.

“All of the options obviously have to be discussed, from not guilty and tough it out, through to ‘How do I get out of here at the earliest opportunity,”’ McLeod told reporters ahead of Monday’s hearing.

A panel of military tribunal members convened for the Hicks case must travel to Guantanamo to approve any sentence, a development that could come this week.

“If I was a betting man, I’d say the odds are good” that Hicks will be home by the end of the year, Air Force Col. Morris Davis, the chief prosecutor for the Guantanamo tribunals, told reporters after Hicks entered his plea.

The charge carries a maximum penalty of life in prison, but Davis has said he would seek a sentence of about 20 years. He said the five years Hicks has spent at Guantanamo could be considered in the ultimate sentence.

In the days leading up to the hearing, defence attorneys said Hicks did not expect a fair trial and was severely depressed and considering a plea deal to end his five-year imprisonment at the US naval base in Cuba.

The United States has agreed to let Hicks serve any sentence in Australia.

“This is the first step toward David returning to Australia,” said McLeod.

Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said he expected Hicks would return soon to Australia, where an outcry over his continued detention has cost Prime Minister John Howard support ahead of elections due this year.

“I am pleased for everybody’s sake that this saga ... has come to a conclusion,” Downer told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio.

The United States is holding about 385 prisoners at Guantanamo. Among them is Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, an al-Qaida member who during a so-called Combatant Status Review Tribunal earlier this month confessed to planning the September 11 attacks and other terror acts. That military panel determined he was an enemy combatant who could later face charges.

Unlike the alleged terrorist mastermind, Hicks has been depicted by the US military in its charge sheet as a minor figure.

Australian Sen. Bob Brown, leader of the minor opposition Greens party, said Hicks made the plea so he could get out of Guantanamo Bay and his guilt would remain in doubt.