DAR AL HARB - AUSTRALIA: A SIM CARD TIES HANEEF TO TERRORISTS

SIM card ties doctor to terrorists, court told
by Daniel Dasey and Kerry-Anne Walsh

THE mobile phone SIM card Gold Coast doctor Mohamed Haneef gave his cousin was found in a car used in a bomb attack on Glasgow Airport, police alleged in court yesterday.

Haneef faced Brisbane Magistrates Court yesterday after being held for questioning for 12 days under anti-terrorism laws.

The 27-year-old was charged with supporting terrorism by supplying the SIM card to his second cousin, Sabeel Ahmed. Sabeel and his brother Kafeel Ahmed allegedly drove an explosive-filled jeep into Glasgow Airport.

Prosecutor Clive Porritt said Haneef, who faces up to 15 years in jail if convicted, had acted "recklessly" and had supplied the alleged terrorists with a usable alternative identity.

Police allege Haneef, an Indian national working at the Gold Coast Hospital, gave the SIM card to the alleged terrorists when he left Britain for Australia last year.

Lawyers for Haneef argued their client should be granted bail. But magistrate Jacqui Payne ordered him back to jail until tomorrow because of the complexity, and the large amount of paperwork, involved in the case.

In a late development, British police yesterday charged Sabeel Ahmed, 26, also a doctor, with a terrorism offence in connection with the failed car bomb attacks in London and Glasgow.

The Metropolitan Police said that Sabeel, of Liverpool, had been charged with having information that could prevent an act of terrorism. He was arrested on June 30 in Liverpool. He is to appear in court tomorrow.

Haneef's wife Firdous said yesterday the accusation against her husband was "senseless" and asked Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Defence Minister A. K. Anthony to help.

"It's senseless. They have done so much investigation. I have been saying ever since he was arrested that he is innocent," she said at the family home in Bangalore.

"I sent the letters last week. I will send them again now," she said.

A handcuffed Haneef wore a checked shirt, brown pullover and dark trousers for the hearing.

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