Finals prices `in line with last year`

Finals prices `in line with last year`	18.07.2008

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Haneef`s first-class trip

MOHAMED Haneef has been seen in a first-class transit lounge as he travels back to India, leaving behind a heated political row over his visa ban.

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INDIAN doctor Mohamed Haneef, who returned home overnight after a terrorism-related charge against him was dropped, said he was "victimised" by the Australian authorities.

Dr Haneef spent more than three weeks in detention in Australia on one count of "reckless" support for a terrorist group, but the charge was dropped on Friday and he was later released.

Dr Haneef flew into the southern Indian city of Bangalore overnight and was whisked from the airport to be reunited with his wife and to see his one-month-old child for the first time.

"It`s an emotional moment being with my family at home after a long wait of 27 days," he read from a short statement.

"I was victimised by the Australian authority and the drama played by the Australian federal police."

The freed doctor was received by joyous relatives at his home, which was decorated with flowers and special lights. Indian officials said Dr Haneef would be offered a job in a Bangalore hospital.

Before leaving Brisbane earlier yesterday, he said he had never been a terror threat and that even police investigators did not know what to ask him during his detention.

Australian police had alleged Dr Haneef provided a mobile phone SIM card to members of the terror group behind last month`s attempted attacks in Britain.

But Dr Haneef said he had merely given away the card in Britain before moving to Australia to take up a job as a hospital registrar.

"It is a tremendous amount of trauma that I have gone through, that I have never imagined in my life," he told 60 Minutes in an interview taped before leaving for India.

"People need to be detained, but not with such a long period."

Dr Haneef, whose second cousin Kafeel Ahmed was allegedly involved in the failed attack on Glasgow airport, was detained on July 2 as he attempted to leave Brisbane on a one-way ticket to India.

The doctor said while he understood why he had been questioned, he had done nothing wrong.

"I don`t mean to harm anyone by words, how can I harm somebody with my activities, that is what I mean to say," he told the program.

The 27-year-old Muslim said Australian investigators seemed unsure about what to question him about beyond his bank statements, where he had lived and whether he had ever undergone terror training in Pakistan or Afghanistan.

"It`s clear from my records, even when they were interrogating me it wasn`t clear to them what they were asking me and what they wanted me to tell."

But Australian Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews said Dr Haneef`s rapid departure after being released from detention only made him look more suspicious.

"If anything, that actually heightens rather than lessens my suspicion," he said.

Mr Andrews, who earlier this month cancelled Dr Haneef`s visa on character grounds, insisted he would not reinstate his work permit, thereby ending any hopes that the Indian doctor would be able to return to his job in Australia.

"Nothing has changed in terms of the circumstances in which I had to make a decision concerning Dr Haneef," the minister said.

Mr Andrews said he would seek the release of confidential police files on which his decision was based, saying: "I have had to defend this matter with one arm tied behind my back because of protected information."

Dr Haneef`s lawyers described Mr Andrews`s latest comments as "beyond bizarre".

"What we can`t understand is how the minister can cling to a view that a man who had been detained for nearly a month on charges that proved to be baseless can continue to smear his good name through an executive decision based on secret material," lawyer Peter Russo said.

"It will make overseas people very suspicious about living and working in Australia and this negative perception will take decades to erase."

In Bangalore, several banners hung from the balcony of his family`s home in the city, with one saying "Welcome Home".

Extra police were also on guard, an AFP reporter at the scene said.

"I thank my family for their support, the government of India, the Indian High Commission in Australia and its staff, my lawyer Peter Russo and his legal team, my supporters here in India and Australia and throughout the world, and the media," he told the throng of reporters outside his family`s home.

His wife Firdous said family and close friends would celebrate his return with a quiet dinner party.

A news conference is scheduled for 4.30pm local time (9pm AEST) tomorrow (Monday).

Calls have mounted in Australia for an inquiry into Dr Haneef`s case after police were described as bumbling "Keystone Cops" for their handling of the investigation.

With Reuters