AUSTRALIAN WOMAN DRUGS TRIAL ADJOURNED

An Australian woman facing the death sentence on drug-smuggling
charges in the United Arab Emirates has had her trial adjourned after
denying the charges.

Queenslander Heidi Deboer is accused, along with four Britons, of
bringing cocaine and hashish into the Muslim country.

Deboer, 24, pleaded not guilty yesterday at the federal court in Dubai
on the opening day of the trial, which was then held over until a date
to be advised, expected to be January 6.

She was remanded in custody, as were Britons Katherine Jenkins, Stacy
Simpson, Anne Kidd and Daniel Maalouf, all of whom also denied
drug-related charges.

Kidd, Maalouf and another Briton, Anna Bartlett, were found guilty at
a trial in May.

Kidd, 32, and Bartlett, 24, were handed 25-year sentences -- both
reduced to 10 years -- for trafficking in illegal drugs, while
Maalouf, 28, was handed a 10-year term for intent to trade, which was
cut to four.

Deboer, Jenkins and Kidd's boyfriend, Simpson, 28, were cleared of all
charges at the May trial in the northern emirate of Ras Al-Khaimah,
but prosecutors won the right for a retrial in the federal court,
where Maalouf and Kidd face additional charges.

At the May trial, Maalouf accused Deboer of being his drug-dealer and
Welsh flight steward Jenkins, 30, told the Islamic court the
Australian had left cocaine in her Dubai apartment.

Deboer, a long term Dubai resident whose father is a pilot for the UAE
royal family, has been in jail since her arrest in October 2000. She
could face death by firing squad if found guilty.

Several foreigners have been sentenced to death for drug trafficking
in the UAE, but no executions have been announced for narcotics crimes.

Death sentences are often commuted to life in prison, which in the UAE
is a 25-year term.

The case was expected to conclude by the end of next month or early
February.