Hutchison's marriage to Hamid elevated her to the most trusted ranks of the al-Qa'ida network. She was so well regarded that in 2001 she was picked by bin Laden's deputy, the Egyptian physician Ayman al-Zawahiri, to help run a new hospital in Kabul.

Thomas told the AFP that Zawahiri had discussed Hutchison with him when they met in the southern Taliban stronghold of Kandahar, after Thomas completed his training at Camp Faruq.

Zawahiri was planning to build a new women's hospital and wanted Hutchison to help him run it. Thomas said Zawahiri asked him for a "character reference" for Hutchison, which Thomas was happy to provide.

But the hospital plan was abandoned when the US launched its bombing raids on Afghanistan after the attacks on the US of September 11, 2001.

In the chaos that followed, Hutchison and her two sons fled Afghanistan, travelling to Iran and then home to Australia. Her travels finally came to an end when ASIO cancelled her passport, deeming her a security risk.