I had no idea of terror plot, says cleared doctor

By RICHARD SHEARS

Last updated at 00:16 30 July 2007


A doctor freed after facing terrorism charges in Australia has said that he would have alerted authorities had he known any of his relatives were planning bomb attacks in Britain.

Mohammed Haneef denied he had ever had any thoughts of terrorism, insisted he had no prior knowledge of the alleged British plot and said he could not believe that someone in his family would be involved in such an outrage.

Dr Haneef, 27, was freed on Friday after a charge that he was involved in the attack on Glasgow airport and the attempted car bombings in London was dramatically dropped.

He flew home to India last night, but not before he had given an interview to an Australian TV network, for which he was paid a reported £80,000 - a fortune in his home city of Bangalore.

Australia remains divided over his arrest and subsequent release, which came amid claims that Scotland Yard gave Australian police false information about a mobile phone SIM card allegedly found in the Jeep used in the Glasgow attack.

In the interview, a nervous Dr Haneef, who had been charged with recklessly providing support to a terrorist organisation, was asked directly if he was a terrorist.

"No, it's not my nature to ever support or involve myself in such activities at all. I don't mean to harm anyone - how can I harm someone with my activities?"

Had he ever contemplated terrorism? "Me? I have never imagined, even in the remotest corner of my brain, that I would be labelled with such acts."

He acknowledged that in 2004 he had visited his second cousin Kafeel Ahmed, who suffered terrible burns in the Glasgow attack, but said they had never lived together.

"Sometimes he used to come to our place and we had family trips through the UK actually," he said. But he claimed he did not know that Kafeel held radical views and had been startled to learn of his alleged involvement in the bombing plot.

"I couldn't really believe that someone from my family would do such a thing," he said. "If I knew anything, definitely, I would have let the authorities know, let their parents know first - who are the main sufferers now I suppose."

Dr Haneef's work visa, which allowed him to take up a position as a registrar at Queensland's Gold Coast Hospital, was cancelled following the charge and has not been renewed.

Arriving in Bangalore, he told reporters he had been "victimised".

"It's an emotional moment being with my family at home after a long wait of 27 days," he read from a short statement. "I was victimised by the Australian authority and the drama played by the Australian federal police."

The freed doctor was received by joyous relatives who decorated him with flowers and lights.

Indian officials said he would be offered a job in a local hospital.

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