By Neena Bhandari, IANS
Sydney : The Muhammad Haneef saga continues to make news in Australia with Australian Federal Police (AFP) Commissioner Mick Keelty flying to Britain for talks with his counterparts on issues that will include the botched up case of the Indian doctor.
Keelty and Attorney-General Robert McClelland have flown to Britain for talks with their counterparts on cooperation in security, intelligence and terrorism investigations and the case of former Gold Coast registrar Haneef, who eight months ago returned home to Bangalore, The Australian newspaper said.
The trip comes after a bungled terrorism investigation by Australian police into Haneef, which is costing the taxpayer a whopping A$8 million ($7 million). There are still nine AFP staff working full time on Haneef’s case.
The 28-year-old was charged with recklessly providing support to a terrorist organisation by giving his mobile phone SIM card to his cousin Sabeel Ahmed, one of the men accused in the botched British bomb attacks.
Former immigration minister Kevin Andrews cancelled his work visa, just hours after a magistrate granted him bail on July 16, 2007, ensuring his continued incarceration. The charges against Haneef were dropped and he returned home last year.
In December 2007, the new Immigration Minister Chris Evans reinstated his visa after the Labour government came to power.
A judicial inquiry to probe the handling of the failed terrorism case against Haneef is expected to start this month.