A doctor charged in Australia with supporting the failed car bomb attacks in Britain was granted bail on Monday. Mohamed Haneef, a 27-year-old Indian doctor who came to Australia last year from Britain, allegedly gave his mobile phone SIM card to two suspects in the British plot. He was charged Saturday and lodged a bail application on Monday.
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| Police describe his support for the plot as "reckless" rather than deliberate. |
Police describe his support for the plot as "reckless" rather than deliberate, and Haneef's lawyer claims the case is weak.
Magistrate Jacqui Payne on Monday granted Haneef bail on conditions that he provides a bond of 10,000 Australian dollars (US$8,700; €6,300), reports to police three times a week, and stays away from any international ports.
Haneef, who has surrendered his passport to authorities, is scheduled to return to court next month.
Government prosecutor Clive Porritt had argued against bail for Haneef, citing laws that say terror suspects should only be granted bail in "exceptional circumstances." The prosecutor said authorities were concerned that Haneef, who was arrested July 2 as he tried to board a flight from Australia to India, may flee the country.
Authorities were concerned that Haneef, who was arrested July 2 as he tried to board a flight from Australia to India, may flee the country.
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Payne gave eight grounds for granting Haneef bail, including that the prosecutors had not provided evidence of a direct link between Haneef and a terrorist organization in Britain.
Haneef is a distant cousin of Sabeel and Kafeel Ahmed, two of the chief suspects in the June 30 attack on an airport in Glasgow, Scotland. Haneef shared a house in Liverpool with the Ahmed brothers before moving to Australia for a job at a hospital on Queensland state's Gold Coast. Police allege Haneef gave his mobile phone card to the brothers in July 2006 when he left Britain. |