MAMDOUH HABIB TO SUE POLICE

Mamdouh Habib has an uncanny knack for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. In 2001 he travelled to Pakistan where he was arrested, ending up – via a short trip to Egypt – as a Guantanamo detainee. He claims, of course, to have been tortured. Eventually released, he resettled in Australia.

The other day he just happened to witness a Sydney double murder:

Mr Habib, 50, was driving his teenage son Moustafa home from work last Wednesday when he witnessed the aftermath of the murder of boxer Bassam Chami, 26, and Ibrahim Assad, 27, in Granville.

After alerting police to the double murder on Blaxcell Street, Mr Habib said he told them he did not know who was involved in the shooting.

But he said he and his son were arrested and forced to participate in a gruelling eight-hour interview.

Their clothes and car were also seized for forensic examination, he said.

Habib has, of course, hired a mouthpiece and plans to sue police:

Mr Habib's solicitor Peter Erman today said he had written to police asking why the Habibs were kept at the police station.

"We are taking legal action ... but we are still getting together all the facts," Mr Erman said.

"My own impression is that this has been a major set back to this fellow psychologically and to his family.

"He is still undergoing treatment for what he went through in both Egypt and Cuba and I'm sure this won't assist.''

Mr Habib told his lawyer he was given only $44 back from an estimated $800 he originally carried in a bumbag seized by police.

Let's see, Habib carries around an estimated $800 because...