Haneef admits second reason to flee
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,,22194710-2702,00.html?from=pub lic_rss Hedley Thomas | August 06, 2007 MOHAMED Haneef has told of a secondary reason for trying to leave Australia on July 2, other than wanting to see his wife and newborn daughter: his relatives were gravely worried he would be wrongfully linked to his second-cousins and the failed terror attacks in Britain days earlier, and they believed he could deal with it in India. Dr Haneef, who is with his family at a secret location in the city of Mysore, 200km from Bangalore, yesterday said he would have contacted the Australian Federal Police and voluntarily walked into a police station if he had known officers in Australia were interested in talking to him about his old SIM card before he tried to return to India. And he said the AFP had evidence showing that his leave from the Gold Coast Hospital was already approved by a senior administrator, and his air ticket booked and purchased, before he and his brother Shoaib had an internet chat conducted in Urdu. Incomplete portions of the internet chat, translated into English, were released last week by Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews and used to suggest Dr Haneef might have had prior knowledge of the June 29-30 attempted bombings in London and Glasgow, an accusation he strenuously rejects. "There's no reason to be suspicious," he said. He said police who questioned him about the conversation knew the context because they had his taped answers. In a weekend interview with The Australian, Dr Haneef denounced terrorism and condemned the attempted bombings by his now-deceased second-cousin Kafeel Ahmed, with whom he said he had had little contact. "This is terrible, these things should not happen," Dr Haneef said. He said he wanted to answer any questions that British police might have had when he tried to contact an officer, Ken Webster, four times by telephone on the afternoon of July 2, about eight hours before his flight was due to depart from Brisbane. He said he called Mr Webster because Ahmed's mother had been contacted by British police after they found the mobile phone SIM card Dr Haneef had given a year ago to Kafeel's brother Sabeel. Dr Haneef was given the name and phone number of the British officer by the mother of Sabeel and Kafeel. "If (British police) had called me (back) and asked me to stay, I would have stayed," Dr Haneef said. "He didn't pick up (the phone). I wouldn't have gone through all of this trouble (if the British officer had picked up). "I called the police officer in the UK to see if he had anything to ask me. Because my aunt told me to call him up -- it was Sabeel's mum who asked me to call this person there -- so I rang him up. Why should I ring the Australian police at that time? I didn't think of that." Dr Haneef said his brother, in particular, was worried about him after the failed bombings. "I'm like a father to him," Dr Haneef said of Shoaib. "I had been looking after him and all my family. He was worried about the SIM card thing. His aunty told him and me as well that Sabeel had been arrested. Yes, I was worried as well. "But my main reason (for leaving) was my baby. The main reason was to be with my wife and my newly born child. If (the Gold Coast Hospital) had told me there was no cover (for his shift), I would not have gone. I would not have been trying to come to India at all. I was not absconding or anything. By this time, I had my leave approved." Dr Haneef's attempts to call the officer were corroborated by the questioning AFP officers, who had the 27-year-old's phone records, during his first interview on July 3, a transcript of which was provided to The Australian. It remains unclear whether the AFP told Mr Andrews of the calls and Dr Haneef's explanations before the cancellation of the doctor's visa on July 16, triggering a Federal Court action to be heard on Wednesday. Mr Andrews yesterday repeatedly refused to reveal whether he knew Dr Haneef had tried to contact British police when he cancelled the doctor's visa on character grounds. Asked whether it was unusual for somebody accused of a link with terrorists to try to contact police, Mr Andrews told the ABC's Insiders program: "We don't know the full details about that contact and how that occurred or whether it occurred." Mr Andrews declared he had no regrets about the way he handled the Haneef case. He said he still felt Dr Haneef's behaviour had been "suspicious". The Democrats will attempt to establish a committee to investigate anti-terror laws when federal parliament resumes tomorrow. Democrats legal affairs spokeswoman Natasha Stott Despoja said she hoped the committee would determine whether the laws were workable, fair and effective. The committee would have to report back by December. Dr Haneef's lawyer Peter Russo said his client's family was right to be concerned that he would be wrongfully linked to his second-cousins and the bombings. Dr Haneef "wants to go back" and "needs to go back" to Australia, he added. Mr Russo was quoted in an Indian newspaper as dismissing AFP Commissioner Mick Keelty's claim that Dr Haneef's case could take years to investigate. "If it takes him years to sort out Mohamed, I don't know what he's doing for the rest of his career," Mr Russo said. Additional reporting: Patricia Karvelas, Bruce Loudon, Selina Mitchell _____ Haneef wants to sue <http://mercury.tiser.com.au/ADCLICK/CID=fffffffcfffffffcfffffffc/acc_random =44752827/SITE=TAUS/AREA=NEWS.NATIONAL/AAMSZ=110X40/pageid=26799718> http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,,22195489-2702,00.html?from=pub lic_rss AAP | August 06, 2007 THE family of Indian doctor Mohamed Haneef want to sue the Australian government over the failed terror charge against him, his lawyer says. Solicitor Peter Russo arrived back in Australia from India yesterday ahead of Wednesday's appeal against Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews' decision to cancel his visa. He said Dr Haneef's family wanted compensation for lost income and damage to his reputation, though his client had not, as yet, asked him to pursue civil actions against the government. "You've got to understand the Indians' mentality - the mentality is to sue," Mr Russo told ABC radio. "I didn't realise that until I got over there and started talking to some of the relatives. But he specifically hasn't asked me to sue." Dr Haneef was charged with providing support to a terrorist organisation for giving his SIM card to his cousin Sabeel Ahmed when he left the UK for Australia last year. Ahmed is one of the men charged over failed terror plots in London and Glasgow on June 29 and 30 and the brother of Kafeel Ahmed, the alleged driver of the flaming jeep which crashed into Glasgow Airport. Mr Andrews cancelled Dr Haneef's visa last month saying he had failed a "character test" through his association with his cousins. Dr Haneef has publicly stated that he wants to return to Australia and his job at the Gold Coast Hospital where he can continue training to become a physician. His fate rests in the hands of the Federal Court judge hearing his appeal in Brisbane on Wednesday. Haneef also is reported to be interested in becoming an Australian citizen. 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