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'I had no idea about UK plot'
18/07/2007 11:15 - (SA)
Dennis Passa
Brisbane - Terror suspect Mohamed Haneef told Australian police he knew nothing about the plot to launch attacks in London and Glasgow, and freely admitted he knew two suspects being detained in Britain, according to leaked interview documents.
Australian Federal Police Commissioner Mick Keelty said the leaking of the interview, which was published in Wednesday's The Australian newspaper, could jeopardise Haneef's trial and was being investigated as possible contempt of court.
The publication comes amid intense debate about whether Haneef, an Indian doctor who came to Australia from Britain last year, is being treated fairly by police and the Australian government.
Haneef, 27, was arrested as he tried to leave Australia for India with a one-way ticket on July 2, two days after two men drove a flaming Jeep loaded with gas canisters into the international airport in Glasgow, Scotland. Unexploded car bombs were found in London the day before.
Haneef was charged on Saturday with giving support to a terrorist organisation for leaving his mobile phone SIM card with two distant cousins, one of whom was in the Glasgow Jeep. The SIM card was also found in the burned-out vehicle, police say.
'I don't know'
A magistrate this week granted Haneef conditional bail, saying the prosecution's evidence was not strong enough to keep him in jail. Within hours, the federal government revoked Haneef's visa and said he would be taken into immigration custody if he made bail.
Haneef's lawyers are due to lodge an appeal of the visa decision on Wednesday.
The Australian newspaper posted on the internet what appears to be the official transcript of a July 3 police interview with Haneef. Condemning the leak on national radio, Keelty did not challenge the authenticity of the document.
In the interview, Haneef was asked what knowledge he had of the attempted bombing in London and said he didn't know anything about it.
Pressed further, he replied: "I gather about Glasgow thing and there was some plot in London. But I don't know, I have not any relation with that at all."
Separately, he told his interviewers he gave Sabeel Ahmed his mobile phone last year before he left for Australia because it had some unused credit. He also said he borrowed up to £300 from Kafeel Ahmed in 2004 to pay for a medical exam.
Mentioned the British bomb plot in a phone call
Kafeel Ahmed is believed to have set himself ablaze after crashing into the Glasgow airport and remains in a Scottish hospital with critical burns. Sabeel, his brother, has been charged with withholding information that could prevent an act of terrorism.
The Ahmed brothers are distant cousins of Haneef, and the three spent time together in England before Haneef moved to Australia, officials say.
Haneef told police he was going to India to be with his wife who had recently had a baby in their hometown of Bangalore. He said his father-in-law paid for the ticket, and he intended to buy a flight back to Australia after he arrived in India.
Haneef said he had mentioned the British bomb plot in a phone call with his father-in-law, including that Sabeel had been arrested, just before he tried to leave Australia.
Haneef said he had tried to call British police about the incident, but was unable to get through.
Haneef has not entered a plea and is due to face court again on August 31.
- AP
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