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John Howard sees no abuse

John Howard

Melbourne: Australian Prime Minister John Howard on Friday said he was not uncomfortable with the detention of Mohammed Haneef but made it clear that he was not calling the Indian doctor a terrorist.

His extended detention has been criticised by civil libertarians as being an abuse of anti-terror powers.

Asked if he was uncomfortable with the 11-day-long detention, Mr. Howard said “no, I am not”, TV channels reported.

He said Australians were entitled to have effective laws to fight terrorism.

“There are all the safeguards in the world under these laws. People can’t be held without the authority of a judicial officer,” Mr. Howard said, adding “the question of whether he is a terrorist or not is a matter to be decided by the police in the first instance and then by the courts.

“I’m not calling him a terrorist, I’m not passing a judgment on him and I’m not going to pass a judgment on the process he is subjected to at the moment,” he said. — PTI

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