Indian doctor detained in connection with failed UK attacks: PM

Melbourne, July 3 (UNI) An Indian doctor had been detained in connection with the suspected al-Qaeda attempts to detonate car bombs in London and Glasgow, Australian Prime Minister John Howard said today.

''The first person taken into custody was an Indian national who came to Australia, sponsored by the Queensland Health Department under a 457 visa,'' he said, addressing a press conference in the capital.

The 27-year old doctor,a registrar at Gold Coast Hospital in Queensland, is believed to have been detained following a request from British authorities investigating failed car bombs in London and Glasgow. Identified as Dr Mohd Haneef, a graduate from the Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences, he was apprehended by the counter-terrorism police at the Brisbane airport last night, while allegedly trying to flee the country.

However, Mr Howard clarified that the doctor has not been arrested. ''No charges have been laid. He is being questioned by the police in the normal way,'' he said.

The Prime Minister also warned the Australian public not to ''drop guard'' and be vigilant.

''We should not be complacent; there are people in our midst who would do us harm and evil if they had the opportunity of doing so,'' he said.

''I do want to take this opportunity of assuring the Australian public that there has been no change to our security position, no change at all, he said, adding that they had ''no information suggesting that there is now a greater likelihood of any terrorist incident in the country than there was late last week.'' Meanwhile, the organisation representing overseas doctors in Australia has expressed concern that the foreign doctors face stigmatisation because of the episode.

The arrest has also come at a time when efforts are being made to get Dr Jayant Patel aka ''Doctor Death'' from the US to Australia.

The former head of surgery department in Bundaberg Hospital is blamed for the deaths of at least 17 patients at Queensland hospital.

''They have a hard enough time coming to Australia with people having a suspicion about them not being up to standard,'' Doctor Andrew Schwartz, President of the Australian Doctors Trained Overseas Association, told the Australian newspaper.

''It's all they need now to think gosh, am I sitting opposite a terrorist?'' he added.

UNI