Haneefs cousin granted visa by Australia

The Australian Immigration Department has given tourist visa to a cousin of Indian doctor Mohammed Haneef to provide him support during legal proceedings.A statement issued by the office of Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews said Haneefs cousin Imran Siddiqqi has been granted a visa after character and security assessments. It is believed that Imran Siddiqui will arrive in Brisbane on Sunday.Haneef is presently languishing in solitary confinement at the Brisbane-based Wolston Correctional Centre after failing to post a 10,000 dollar surety - which would have resulted in his transfer to Villawood Immigration Detention Centre in Sydney, after being charged with recklessly providing support to his two UK-based cousins - Sabeel and Kafeel Ahmed -- the key accused in the June 29 and 30 foiled UK bomb drives. Australias Immigration Minister has also cancelled Haneefs work visa.

Melbourne, July 20 :The Australian Immigration Department has given tourist visa to a cousin of Indian doctor Mohammed Haneef to provide him support during legal proceedings.A statement issued by the office of Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews said Haneef's cousin Imran Siddiqqi has been granted a visa after character and security assessments. It is believed that Imran Siddiqui will arrive in Brisbane on Sunday.Haneef is presently languishing in solitary confinement at the Brisbane-based Wolston Correctional Centre after failing to post a 10,000 dollar surety - which would have resulted in his transfer to Villawood Immigration Detention Centre in Sydney, after being charged with recklessly providing support to his two UK-based cousins - Sabeel and Kafeel Ahmed -- the key accused in the June 29 and 30 foiled UK bomb drives. Australia's Immigration Minister has also cancelled Haneef's work visa.

Andrews cancelled Haneef's work visa on Monday after he was granted bail on a charge of recklessly providing support to a terrorist organisation.Meanwhile, the opposition Greens Party has joined calls for Andrews to reinstate Haneef's visa, after the release of new information about his alleged link to the UK terrorism plot.The ABC has been told that Haneef's mobile phone SIM card was not in the jeep that exploded at Glasgow Airport, but was found 350 kilometres away at a house in Liverpool.Greens Senator Kerry Nettle said the Federal Government's case against Haneef is falling apart. "Either it is a massive mistake on the part of the Federal Police and the Australian Government or it is them desperately looking to charge Haneef and skimming over the facts of the case in making the decision to charge Haneef," she said.But Andrews has ruled out reviewing his decision to cancel Haneef's visa on character grounds, despite the new information revealed on Friday.

A leading criminal barrister on Friday said an apparent prosecution "mess-up" meant Haneef was unlikely to be convicted of providing support to a terrorist organisation.In Haneef's bail application on Saturday, Commonwealth Prosecutor Clive Porritt alleged that Haneef had given his mobile phone SIM card to his cousin Sabeel Ahmed when he left the UK last July.He alleged Sabeel had then passed the card on to his brother Kafeel, the driver of a jeep used in a terrorist attack on Glasgow Airport on June 30, and that the card had been found on the wreckage.However, reports from Britain on Friday reveal the SIM card in fact may have been with Sabeel Ahmed in Liverpool at the time of the incident.Melbourne barrister Peter Faris said on Friday the apparent error in the prosecution's case put before the court had been "a shocking mess-up".

Meanwhile, Australian Federal Police Commissioner Mick Keelty has defended his force against allegations of incompetence following apparent flaws in the prosecution case against Mohamed Haneef.

Keelty today urged lawyers and the media to stop commenting on the case against the Indian doctor charged with recklessly providing support to a terrorist organisation.

He singled out Melbourne barrister Peter Faris QC, who earlier today said the AFP and Director of Public Prosecutions appeared to have made a "shocking mess-up" in presenting evidence to court.

Keelty said today any claims regarding prosecution evidence should be dealt with in the courts.

ANI