Australia reviews Indian doctor bomb-link charges

Canberra, July 25: Australia's chief prosecutor said today he will review the case against a detained Indian doctor, charged over links to a British bomb plot, after weeks of legal and political criticism that the case is weak.

Australia's Director of Public Prosecutions, Damian Bugg, said he would review all the evidence against Dr Mohamed Haneef, 27, who has been in jail since he was detained on July 2 as he was about to fly to India.

''There are matters which have developed as this case has progressed which I am examining and a broader review of the available material and the proceedings to date is the best way to examine these matters appropriately,'' Bugg said in a statement.

Bugg has the power to dismiss the charges against Haneef.

The latest development follows a series of media leaks and public, legal and political criticism about the case against Haneef, who is charged with recklessly supporting terrorism by providing a relative in Britain with his mobile phone SIM card.

Haneef has not entered a plea and he remains in jail after the government cancelled his visa and ordered he be kept in immigration detention after a magistrate earlier ruled he could be released on bail.

Police in Britain have charged three people over the failed June car bomb attacks, including Haneef's second cousin Sabeel Ahmed, who is accused of failing to disclose information that could have prevented an attack.

Another of Haneef's second cousins, Kafeel Ahmed, remains in hospital after being badly burned when a jeep was driven into an airport terminal in Glasgow and set ablaze.

Australian police told an Australian court that Haneef's SIM card was found in the burning jeep in Glasgow, although police sources in Australia and Britain later told Australian media the card was found with Sabeel in Liverpool.

Haneef told Australian police he left his phone SIM card with his cousin in mid-2006 when he left Britain to work in Australia.

Police have also been forced to publicly deny media reports that Haneef might have been plotting to blow up a high-rise building on the Gold Coast in northern Queensland state.

The case is being closely watched in New Delhi, and Australia has moved to calm Indian concerns after Indian authorities summoned Australia's High Commissioner John McCarthy to explain Haneef's continued detention.

Haneef's lawyer Peter Russo and cousin Imran Siddiqui travelled to Canberra today for meetings at the Indian High Commission to seek Indian government support for the case.

''It is very important for us to keep them updated and also be in touch with them and talk to them and see how the (Indian) government can help,'' Siddiqui told reporters.

Reuters>