Two vehicles found in London packed with explosives, car explodes at Glasgow airport

[Al-khiyal]

July 28, 2007 -- A majority of Australians disapprove the Howard government's handling of the case of Indian doctor Mohammed Haneef, who has been cleared of charges in connection with last month's failed terror plot in the UK.

27-year-old Haneef gained enormous support from Australians during his nearly four-week ordeal after his arrest in Brisbane on July 2.

Over 68 per cent of Australians voted against the government on its handling of Haneef's case in a poll conducted by the local TV channel 'Sky News'.

It seems Haneef saw the worst and best of Australian justice and attitudes. He was initially held under the new terrorism law and eventually charged for handing over the SIM card.

When a Queensland magistrate granted him bail, Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews revoked his visa on "character" grounds.

Meanwhile, mistakes and discrepancies were discovered in the material relating to the case, and there were leaks to discredit Haneef and a counter-leak by his own barrister.

On Friday, Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions Damian Bugg announced dropping of terror charges against Haneef, who is all set to leave for India on Saturday night.

'Over 68% of Australians disapprove of government's handling of Haneef case'

[Al-khiyal]

August 3, 2007 -- Kafeel Ahmed, the man who set himself on fire after crashing a jeep into Glasgow airport, has died in hospital. The 27-year-old Indian national was one of two men held at the airport after the attack on June 30. Television footage had shown the badly burned Ahmed being detained by police at Glasgow airport.

He sustained 90% burns and had not been expected to survive. He died at Glasgow Royal Infirmary, police said last night. He had been in hospital since the incident.

Bilal Abdulla, a doctor arrested at the airport at the same time as Ahmed, has been charged with conspiring to cause explosions and remains in custody. The pair were allegedly driving a Jeep laden with gas canisters.

Ahmed, from Bangalore, was an engineer with a PhD, and was related to Sabeel Ahmed, who has also been charged in relation to the attempted car bombings in London and Glasgow. Ahmed was also distantly related to Mohammed Haneef, the Indian doctor detained in Australia after the attacks in Britain. Dr Haneef was released by the Australian authorities at the end of last month.

A spokesman for Strathclyde police said: "We can confirm that the man seriously injured during the course of the incident at Glasgow airport on Saturday June 30 has died in Glasgow Royal Infirmary.

"The man died earlier this evening and the circumstances surrounding the death have been reported to the procurator fiscal."

Man ablaze in Glasgow airport attack dies

[liberte]

A court in Australia has overturned a government decision to cancel the visa of an Indian doctor briefly charged over failed bomb attacks in the UK.

The court ruled that the government had erred when it cancelled Mohamed Haneef's visa on character grounds.

Dr Haneef was accused of links with failed attacks in London and Glasgow.

But all the charges against him were dropped after Australia's chief prosecutor reviewed the case and said a mistake had been made.

The BBC's Nick Bryant, in Sydney, says the court's decision will be a major embarrassment for the Australian government.

It first cancelled Dr Haneef's work visa after a magistrate granted him bail, then refused to reinstate it when charges against him were dropped.

Dr Haneef, who has now returned to India, has consistently denied any wrongdoing.

'Wrong test'

At a hearing in Brisbane, Justice Jeffrey Spender ruled that Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews used the wrong criteria when he revoked Dr Haneef's visa.


HANEEF CASE TIMELINE
2 July : Arrested in Brisbane
14 July : Charged with providing "reckless support" to terrorism
16 July : Granted bail, but kept in custody after work visa revoked
27 July : Charges dropped
29 July : Returns to India
21 Aug : Court overturns government visa decision

"The minister cancelled the visa by adopting a wrong criterion; he fell into jurisdictional error by applying the wrong test," he said.

"That error infects the cancellation decision. It follows that the decision must be set aside."

The new ruling does not mean that Dr Haneef's visa will automatically be reinstated. The ruling is suspended for 21 days to give the government time to formulate a response.

Dr Haneef's lawyer, Peter Russo, said that he hoped Mr Andrews would accept the decision with "good grace", allowing the doctor to return to Australia to continue his medical work and training.

There was no immediate response from the government, although Mr Andrews had earlier indicated he would consider appealing.

UK relatives

Dr Haneef had been working at a hospital on Australia's Gold Coast when he was arrested on 2 July. He was held for several days before being charged with giving "reckless support" to terrorism.

A magistrate granted him bail, but within hours Mr Andrews had revoked his employment visa, allowing the authorities to keep him in detention.

When key evidence linking Dr Haneef to the suspects in the UK attacks was found to be flawed, the charges were dropped, but not the visa ruling.

Dr Haneef's defence team has argued that the immigration laws were applied simply to keep him behind bars while the criminal case against him was falling apart.

Dr Haneef is the cousin of Sabeel Ahmed, one of three people charged in the UK over the failed attacks.

Mr Ahmed's brother, Kafeel, was the driver of a jeep which crashed into Glasgow Airport in flames on 30 June. He died from his injuries earlier this month.

BBC NEWS | World | Asia-Pacific | Judge overturns Haneef visa ban

[Al-khiyal]

Cleared terror suspect wins right to return to Australia