By Neena Bhandari, IANS
Sydney : The Australian Federal Police (AFP) was Thursday granted another 96 hours to interrogate Muhammad Haneef, an Indian doctor detained in Brisbane in connection with last week's foiled British bomb plot.
Haneef has not been charged and his family and relatives say he has done nothing wrong. The AFP has up to Monday night (July 9) to charge, release or extradite Haneef. The police said he has been offered a lawyer and has received legal advice.
AFP Commissioner Mick Keelty said there was a lot more evidence to justify his arrest than just mobile phone records. He said the police had gathered a considerable amount of material from search warrants executed across southeast Queensland.
Meanwhile, a counter-terrorism expert from Scotland Yard arrived in Brisbane to assist Australian authorities with their inquiries.
Haneef was detained while leaving on a one-way ticket to India and health authorities here have confirmed that he had emergency leave from the Gold Coast hospital to visit his wife and newborn daughter in Bangalore.
He is said to be the cousin of two brothers, Sabeel and Kafeel (also known as Khalid) Ahmed, who were arrested in Britain over the July 29- and 30-failed car bombings in London and Glasgow. The Australian Medical Association (AMA) in Western Australia said it had earlier rejected job applications from the Ahmed brothers because their qualifications did not meet Western Australia standards.
Australian Prime Minister John Howard has said Haneef is innocent until proven otherwise.
Meanwhile, 26-year-old Mohammed Asif Ali, a second doctor arrested in Brisbane, was Wednesday released after interrogation. Police sources described him as a man who had simply made an "unfortunate acquaintance". Keelty told the media Ali was innocent and was free to go.
However, the damage has already been done to Ali's reputation. His face has been splashed on the front pages of the tabloid newspapers, under headlines such as "the enemy within" and "terror link on our doorstep".
Haneef's arrest has put the focus on overseas trained doctors and the 457 work visa, under which skilled migrant workers are allowed temporary entry to Australia to take up specific jobs with sponsor employers who cannot fill the positions locally.
Prime Minister Howard said, "Well I don't think you'll ever have enough locally to meet all the needs. There are occasions when you have to bring people in from abroad, but we will never have a situation where you'll never import local doctors."
"We've brought doctors in from overseas for many years; and it is not a new thing. The number now may be higher, but we have had foreign doctors in this country for decades. Foreign doctors came to this country long before terrorism was an issue, so I think we have to be careful not to jump to too many conclusions," he added.
Asked if overseas doctors' applications should be vetted more thoroughly, Howard said, "It's very important to bear in mind that this man (Haneef) has not been charged with any offence and we have to just calmly enforce the law, and if, as a result of things that we learn from this incident, there is a need to change any of our procedures we should change them.
"But he is entitled like anybody else in this situation to a presumption of innocence."
On whether the prime minister was investigating more broadly the issue of the 457 visas, Howard said, "We have to get more information to see whether this incident has exposed any flaws because nothing has been established. There are other people who are complete cleanskins when they have their first involvement with terrorism, they've had no previous association with terrorism."