By Jane Sutton

GUANTANAMO BAY U.S. NAVAL BASE, Cuba, March 30 (Reuters) - Australian David Hicks must explain under oath exactly what he did in Afghanistan with al Qaeda before he learns his sentence from the Guantanamo war crimes tribunal, the chief prosecutor said.

Hicks, a 31-year-old former farmhand from Adelaide, pleaded guilty on Monday to providing material support for terrorism. His hearing was scheduled to resume at 8 a.m. EDT (1200 GMT) on Friday at the U.S. naval base in southeast Cuba, with Hicks due to explain what he is guilty of under oath.

The U.S. military accused Hicks of training with al Qaeda, taking up arms to join the Taliban and fighting U.S. forces and their allies in Afghanistan after the Sept. 11 attacks.

Hicks is not accused of actually shooting anyone and was trying to flee to Pakistan by taxi when he was captured in December 2001.

"I'm not going to stand here and tell you that David Hicks is on par with Osama bin Laden," said the chief prosecutor, Air Force Col. Moe Davis.

But Davis bristled at suggestions that Hicks was merely an al Qaeda bit player and said it was not "the grand strategic thinkers" who killed thousands of people in terrorist attacks around the world.

"It's those down at the tactical level that are willing to strap on the bombs and take up arms on the front lines and carry out the objectives of the extremist ideology that their way is the only right way and anything else is wrong," Davis told journalists visiting Guantanamo.

Hicks was in the first group of prisoners brought to Guantanamo in January 2002 and has said he was abused by his captors, which the U.S. military denies.

He is the first person convicted in the revised military tribunals that the U.S. Congress created after the Supreme Court struck down an earlier version that President George W. Bush authorized to try foreign captives on terrorism charges.

Once the judge, Marine Col. Ralph Kohlmann, is satisfied that Hicks is guilty, at least five U.S. military officers who comprise the rest of the tribunal will decide his sentence.

Davis said he would ask for a sentence of "substantially less" than 20 years but would not be more specific. Hicks will serve his sentence in Australia.

The United States plans to try as many as 80 Guantanamo prisoners in the tribunals but has no charges pending against any of the other 385 or so captives.

Hicks, whose hair had grown to mid-back, was expected to get a haircut and new clothes to replace the tan prison uniform he wore in court on Monday.

Before Hicks announced his decision to plead guilty and waive trial, Kohlmann said the prison uniform could compromise Hicks' presumption of innocence in the eyes of the tribunal members. He urged Hicks' lawyers to find him a suit, or at least a shirt and slacks that met "business casual" standards.

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