Haneef's wife may travel to Australia

BANGALORE: Firdous Arshiya, the wife of Bangalore doctor Muhammad Haneef, may travel to Australia as police there have formally charged him in connection with the failed British terror plot.

"We may", an upset Firdous told when asked whether she plans to go to Australia now that her husband has been charged and may not be allowed to travel to India even if he gets bail.

She said she would be talking to Haneef's lawyer Peter Russo later on Saturday to know the latest developments regarding the case.

On the charges against Haneef, Firdous said she never expected "such a stupid thing" from the Australian police.

"Yes. They want to just hold him back. That is why they are doing this," she said referring to the charge that Haneef's action of giving his SIM card to his cousin Sabeel Ahmed, another suspect in the plot, was "reckless" and not "intentional".

Sabeel and his elder brother Kafeel Ahmed are Haneef's distant cousins. Haneef was working with Sabeel in Liverpool, Britain, when he decided to move to the Gold Coast Hospital in Brisbane, Australia. Haneef left behind his mobile SIM card with Sabeel as there was some amount of talk time left.

The Liverpool police picked up Sabeel a day after a blazing jeep was driven into the Glasgow airport terminal June 30. The driver is believed to be Kafeel.

Haneef was detained in Brisbane July 2 when he was leaving for India on a one-way ticket to see, according to him, his newborn baby. Firdous gave birth to a baby girl here June 26.

"People in Australia itself were questioning the detention without charges. That is why they have taken this step.

"They do not realise the effect their action is having on the lives of those connected to Haneef," Firdous said.

The news of Haneef being charged, instead of being released as was widely expected Friday after police dropped plans to seek extension of his detention, came as a huge "shock and disappointment for the family," she added.