By DPA
Sydney : Hizb ut-Tahrir could be outlawed in a coming crackdown on militant Islamic groups that preach against democracy, freedom of religion and the emancipation of women, Attorney-General Philip Ruddock said Saturday.
The Australian affiliate of the international group has twice been investigated by intelligence services and may have links to the failed car bombings in Britain.
Ruddock said he had ordered a review because he wanted to be satisfied that the group was not "directly or indirectly engaged in preparing, planning or assisting or fostering a terrorist attack."
Ruddock also urged Australians not to see Indian doctors working in the country's hospitals as potential terrorists or be prejudiced against Brisbane doctor Mohammed Haneef who has been held for almost a week over suspected links with the would-be British bombers.
"People are entitled to a presumption of innocence even when they have been charged," Ruddock said. "Isn't it even more so that you should assume that a person is innocent until proven guilty when you're just asking questions?"
Laptop computers and mobile telephones have been seized in Perth and Sydney as counter-terrorism police investigate a possible network of Muslim militants.
But Federal Police Commissioner Mick Keelty stressed that only one person is in custody and that no charges have been pressed.
"I want to stress that at this stage nobody has been charged with any offence," Keelty said. "What we're trying to do here is to establish those involved in the network and any associations with the people who have been arrested and detained in the UK."
The sweep began with the arrest of Haneef, 27, who was waiting to board a flight to India on a one-way ticket.
Keelty, who has insisted that there are more than just mobile-phone records to warrant Haneef's detention, said British police were closely involved in the investigation.
"It's quite a complex investigation and the links to the UK are becoming more concrete," Keelty said, noting that police were going through 31,000 documents seized in the raids.