Haneef asks Oz media to call him 'doctor'

Melbourne, Jan 22 : Indian born doctor Mohamed Haneef, who was wrongly implicated by the Howard Government, has said that he is tired of being referred to as a "former terror suspect", and appealed to the Australian media to stop using the description.

"The label is continuing to muddy my name and professional standing, six months after a charge of providing support to terrorism was dropped," Dr. Haneef said in an interview with The Bulletin magazine.

"This label makes me feel bad. It's not true. I had nothing to do with terror," Dr Haneef said.

"While I should be grateful to the Australian media for their incessant support, it's up to the media to get back with the normalcy of deleting these things whenever they refer to me and this topic," he added.

Dr Haneef also said that he was reluctant to return to work in Australia until the federal police declared their investigations into him complete.

He also wanted to resume his studies at a Queensland hospital, but his lawyer Peter Russo won't advise him to return until the AFP completes its investigation, news.com.au reported.

"They have to make comment publicly that there won't be any other issues surrounding this matter if I return to Australia," Dr Haneef said.

He said he would "be grateful" if the Australian Government would consider paying him compensation for his ordeal, but believed no money would compensate for the damage to his name.

Dr Haneef, a registrar at the Gold Coast Hospital, was arrested and charged in July 2007 in connection with the Glasgow terror attacks and later deported by the Howard Government, despite the charges being dropped for lack of evidence.

He was arrested at Brisbane Airport on July 2, 2007 shortly after the failed UK terrorist plot, but a charge of providing support to terrorism was dropped later.

The charges were dropped less than two weeks later after Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions announced there was no reasonable prospect of a conviction.

ANI