Haneef's colleague suspended in Australia

MELBOURNE: An Indian doctor who worked with Mohamed Haneef at an Australian hospital and was interrogated by police in connection with the failed UK terror plot earlier this month has been suspended.

A Queensland Health spokeswoman on Monday said that Director General Uschi Schreiber had suspended Mohamed Ali, who worked at Gold Coast hospital, with pay, after receiving information from Queensland Police.

Schreiber said the information did not relate to terrorism allegations but the matter had been referred to the Crime and Misconduct Commission and the Medical Board of Queensland, according to media here.

Ali was taken into police custody shortly after Haneef was detained on July 2 but was released following questioning.

Following his release, AFP Commissioner Mick Keelty said there was nothing to suggest Ali had committed a crime and he was free to return into the community.

The doctors were both recruited from Liverpool in England and sponsored on 457 work visas by Queensland Health and worked at the Gold Coast Hospital.

The spokeswoman said Ali was suspended on Friday evening, around the same time Haneef was freed from Wolsten Correctional Centre after the terror charge against him was dropped.

Ali will remain suspended until the investigation against him is complete, she said.