Extention to Indian doctor's detention dropped

By Staff
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Google Oneindia News

Canberra, July 13: Australian police today withdrew a court bid to extend the detention of an Indian doctor held for 11 days without charge over possible links to failed car bomb attacks in Britain.

Queensland based doctor Mohamed Haneef, 27, is one of six Indian doctors questioned in Australia over the suspected al Qaeda-linked plot in Britain. The others have been released.

''We have withdrawn an application to extend dead time and have recommenced questioning,'' an Australian Federal Police (AFP) spokesman told the sources.

It is not clear when Haneef will be freed as Australian anti-terrorism laws allow police a total of 24 hours of questioning of detained persons. They have only used 12 hours.

The AFP spokesman said Haneef would be questioned for 12 hours, but that he would decide whether to have breaks. In theory he could be questioned for 12 straight hours and freed unless they decide to charge him.

Australian media reported today that police had no evidence against Haneef, but they believe he has had ''significant contact'' with the suspects.

Civil rights groups and lawyers have called on Haneef to either be charged or set free, but Prime Minister John Howard said today he was not uncomfortable with Haneef's detention without charge under tough anti-terrorism laws.

''I'm happy with the laws because I sponsored them. I defend them. We do need to arm ourselves with the laws that are being applied at the present circumstance,'' Howard told local radio.

''I think the Australian public is entitled to effective laws and God forbid that we should ever have a terrorist attack in this country,'' Howard said.

Two car bombs primed to explode in London's bustling theatre and nightclub district were discovered early on June 29. The following day a jeep crashed into the terminal building at Glasgow airport and burst into flames.

All six suspects in Britain are medics from the West Asia or India. One, Iraqi-trained doctor Bilal Abdulla, 27, was charged last week with conspiring to cause explosions.

No Evidence

The Australian newspaper said that despite searches across the country, the questioning six Indian doctors and 11 days detention, police had failed to find any evidence linking Haneef to the British attacks.

The newspaper said police documents showed that while no evidence against Haneef had emerged, police still suspected he supported those behind the British failed attacks.

Haneef is a second cousin to Kafeel Ahmed, one of the suspects now in a critical condition with burns from the Glasgow attack, and last contacted his cousin via an Internet chat in March/April 2007, said the documents.

The documents said Haneef was not very close to his cousin, but stayed with him and other suspects when he visited Britain in 2004.

When Haneef left Britain in 2006 to travel to Australia to work, he left his mobile telephone sim card, which one of the suspects later used to access a cheaper telephone deal.

Haneef was contacted by one of the suspects in June 2007, who congratulated him on the birth of a child.

Police will argue in court today that Haneef's detention should be extended as he ''appears to have a significant contact with people in the UK who appear to have been involved in the terrorist acts'', said The Australian, quoting police documents.

Police believe the investigation in Australia and overseas could take another 14 days to complete, the paper said.

Documents and material seized by Australian police included 1,636 photographs, a 40-gigabyte hard drive belonging to Haneef, an 80-gigabyte hard drive belonging to his friend and fellow Gold Coast doctor and two mobile telephones, the newspaper said.

Police were also looking at a personal digital assistant, two 128-megabyte flash drives, a digital camera, email documents, computer discs and a global positioning system.

Reuters

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