Former Oz minister appears at Haneef inquiry

Melbourne, Oct 15 : Former Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews has given evidence at the government-ordered inquiry into the bungled Haneef investigation, less than one month before the inquiry is due to hand in its report.

Andrews's evidence came as Attorney-General Robert McClelland repeated his expectation that the Australian Federal Police would make a publicly available submission to the inquiry, which is due to report on November 14. Andrews, who controversially cancelled Mohamed Haneef's visa after he was granted bail by a Brisbane magistrate, arrived at the closed hearing in Canberra this morning. Haneef, who had been working at the Gold Coast Hospital, was arrested on July 2 last year after police linked his phone SIM card to bungled terror attacks in London and Glasgow, The Australian reported.

The case collapsed for lack of evidence and is now the subject of a government-ordered inquiry headed by retired NSW Supreme Court judge John Clarke QC. Andrews, a former Howard government minister, is one of the last witnesses to appear before the inquiry. "I have said always that I would cooperate with Clarke," Andrews said on his way into the hearing. "That's what I have been doing and that's what I'm doing again today." McClelland said at a function in Canberra today that he hoped the AFP would be able to release their submission, now that the trials of two men accused of conducting the bombings had begun. "They have been concerned, and I think legitimately concerned, with trials that are literally just kicking off in the United Kingdom," McClelland said.

ANI