Terror suspect Mohamed Haneef told Australian police he knew nothing about the plot to launch attacks in London and Scotland, and freely admitted he knew two suspects being detained in Britain, leaked interview documents have shown.
Australian Federal Police Commissioner Mick Keelty said the leaking of the interview, which was published in yesterday's Australian newspaper, could jeopardize Haneef's trial and was being investigated as possible contempt of court.
The publication came 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 had been found in London the day before.
Haneef was charged on Saturday with giving support to a terrorist organization 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.
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 were due to lodge an appeal of the visa decision yesterday.
The Australian posted on the Internet what appeared 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 he knew of the attempted London bombing 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 (US$615) from Kafeel Ahmed in 2004 to pay for a medical exam.
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.
PRECARIOUS RELATIONS: Commentators in Saudi Arabia accuse the UAE of growing too bold, backing forces at odds with Saudi interests in various conflicts A Saudi Arabian media campaign targeting the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has deepened the Gulf’s worst row in years, stoking fears of a damaging fall-out in the financial heart of the Middle East. Fiery accusations of rights abuses and betrayal have circulated for weeks in state-run and social media after a brief conflict in Yemen, where Saudi airstrikes quelled an offensive by UAE-backed separatists. The United Arab Emirates is “investing in chaos and supporting secessionists” from Libya to Yemen and the Horn of Africa, Saudi Arabia’s al-Ekhbariya TV charged in a report this week. Such invective has been unheard of
US President Donald Trump on Saturday warned Canada that if it concludes a trade deal with China, he would impose a 100 percent tariff on all goods coming over the border. Relations between the US and its northern neighbor have been rocky since Trump returned to the White House a year ago, with spats over trade and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney decrying a “rupture” in the US-led global order. During a visit to Beijing earlier this month, Carney hailed a “new strategic partnership” with China that resulted in a “preliminary, but landmark trade agreement” to reduce tariffs — but
SCAM CLAMPDOWN: About 130 South Korean scam suspects have been sent home since October last year, and 60 more are still waiting for repatriation Dozens of South Koreans allegedly involved in online scams in Cambodia were yesterday returned to South Korea to face investigations in what was the largest group repatriation of Korean criminal suspects from abroad. The 73 South Korean suspects allegedly scammed fellow Koreans out of 48.6 billion won (US$33 million), South Korea said. Upon arrival in South Korea’s Incheon International Airport aboard a chartered plane, the suspects — 65 men and eight women — were sent to police stations. Local TV footage showed the suspects, in handcuffs and wearing masks, being escorted by police officers and boarding buses. They were among about 260 South
Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) purge of his most senior general is driven by his effort to both secure “total control” of his military and root out corruption, US Ambassador to China David Perdue said told Bloomberg Television yesterday. The probe into Zhang Youxia (張又俠), Xi’s second-in-command, announced over the weekend, is a “major development,” Perdue said, citing the family connections the vice chair of China’s apex military commission has with Xi. Chinese authorities said Zhang was being investigated for suspected serious discipline and law violations, without disclosing further details. “I take him at his word that there’s a corruption effort under
RSS