The Hindu : Front Page : Haneef tried to clear name with British police

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Thursday, Jul 19, 2007
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Haneef tried to clear name with British police

BRISBANE: Terror suspect Mohammed Haneef tried to telephone a British investigator four times after learning he was wanted in failed British terror attacks, but the calls went unanswered, according to a leaked police interview.

Dr. Haneef, charged in Australia with giving support to a terrorist organisation linked to the plots in London and Glasgow, Scotland, told police he made the calls because he wanted to clear his name before he became a suspect, the documents published on Wednesday showed.

Federal Police Commissioner Mick Keelty said the leak was being investigated as a possible contempt of court. Prime Minister John Howard said whoever was responsible was trying to frustrate justice and “should be condemned.”

The Australian newspaper on Wednesday posted on the Internet what Dr. Haneef’s lawyer Stephen Keim said was the official transcript of a July 3 police interview with his client. Condemning the leak on national radio, Mr. Keelt y did not challenge the authenticity of the document.

In the 142-page transcript, Dr. Haneef said he had no prior knowledge of the attempted attacks in Britain.

“I’m clear from any of the things,” he said. “I haven’t done any of the crimes.”

He told his interviewers he gave Sabeel Ahmed his mobile phone before he left for Australia in July 2006 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.

Kafeel Ahmed is believed to have crashed the Jeep into the Glasgow airport and remains hospitalised with critical burns. Sabeel, his brother, has been charged with withholding information that could prevent a terrorist attack.

The Ahmed brothers are distant cousins of Dr. Haneef, and the three spent time together in England before the doctor moved to Australia. In April 2006, Sabeel and Haneef, along with Dr. Haneef’s wife and her parents, rented a car and spent a day in Glasgow during a holiday in Scotland.

The doctor told police he was leaving Australia to be with his family in Bangalore, where his daughter had been born just days before his arrest. Her stay in hospital was prolonged after complications arose during the Caesarean section.

Dr. Haneef said that after the attack he had received a phone call from Sabeel’s mother, who told him that a British investigator wanted to speak to him. She gave him the officer’s phone number and advised him to call.

“She said to me that there was something wrong with your mobile phone, someone was misusing the thing,” Dr. Haneef said. “It’s safe for you to just let them know. So that they don’t think that you are ... clear yourself. And also because I was about to leave, so that I’m not absconding from any place, as such. To inform them.”

The doctor said he tried to call the number Sabeel’s mother gave him, but got no response. The police interviewer said he had checked and it appeared Dr. Haneef had called the British officer’s number four times on July 2.

He told police he was a moderate Muslim, and that “I feel for every human being.” When asked, he declined to offer an opinion about Iraq or Afghanistan. — AP

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