Mugabe: Call me president and we`ll talk

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Philip Ferres and Kolis Barba entered guilty pleas in the San Diego Superior Court today.

They were facing up to seven years in a California state prison, but in the deal with US prosecutors, Ferres and Barba will be sentenced to 90 days of work furlough in San Diego.

They will be required to work during the day, possibly at the US naval base in San Diego, and then return to a low security prison facility in downtown San Diego at night run by probation officials.

Ferres, 26, and Barba, 24, both from Queensland, appeared nervous as they each entered a guilty plea to the one felony charge of assault with force likely to cause great bodily injury.

The victim, Jeffery Wilkinson, 28, of San Diego, suffered a broken nose and rib, a fractured eye socket and 30 stitches on his face after Ferres and Barba chased him and then beat and kicked him.

At an earlier court appearance, Mr Wilkinson testified he was at a party at an apartment in San Diego with Ferres and Barba in November when they began to argue about Australia`s involvement in the war in Iraq and the merits of Australian rules football and American gridiron.

Ferres and Barba were on shore leave in San Diego from the naval frigate, HMAS Sydney.

"They`re anxious," the Australians` US lawyer, Matt O`Connor, said after today`s court appearance.

"They`ve been away since September and they want to get back now and this (the plea deal) is the quickest way of getting back.

"While they did believe they had a defensible case, they did maintain throughout they wanted to get back to Australia."

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