By DPA
Sydney : A court ruling Friday cleared the way for Indian doctor Mohamed Haneef, who was held briefly on terrorism charges, to return to his job in an Australian hospital.
Lawyers for Haneef were delighted that the Federal Court threw out an appeal against the reinstatement of his work visa.
Peter Russo said Haneef was not intent on returning but was keen to clear his name by reapplying for a visa.
Russo told ABC Radio that “as time goes by I don’t know whether that wish (to return to his job) is as strong as it was when we started”.
Russo said no decision had been made about whether Haneef would seek compensation.
Australian police arrested Haneef at Brisbane airport on July 2 as he was boarding a flight to India just days after failed terrorist attacks in Britain.
He was held for 12 days before being charged with providing support to a terrorist organization. When he left Britain to come to Australia he had given his mobile phone SIM card to a cousin, Sabeel Ahmed, one of those held over the attacks in Britain.
The charge was dropped after it was decided there was no prospect of securing a conviction against the 27-year-old. Because his visa had been cancelled on character grounds, Haneef was obliged to give up his job at the Gold Coast Hospital and return to India.
Haneef has spent most of the past five months at his family home in Bangalore. He is currently in Saudi Arabia on the Haj pilgrimage.
Medical Association spokesman Philip Morris said Haneef would be welcomed back to Queensland to take up his old post at the Gold Coast Hospital.
“When he was here before there was no question about his medical competence or his commitment to care for patients,” Morris said.