Second Indian doctor being questioned in Australia released

MELBOURNE: A second Indian doctor who was detained along with Mohammed Haneef in Brisbane in connection with the UK terror plots has been released after questioning while Haneef's detention has been extended.

Mohammed Asif Ali, 26, was released without charge after being questioned by Australian Federal Police over bomb plots in London and Glasgow.

Australian Federal Police Commissioner Mick Keelty on Wednesday said Ali had not committed any crime and was free to go about his business.

"As with a lot of investigations, a lot of people are spoken to and he's now back in the community," Keelty said adding 'there is nothing to suggest he has committed any offences at this point in time.'

Australian police have been granted an extra two days time to interrogate the Indian doctor detained in connection with last week's failed terror attack in the UK, Prime Minister John Howard said.

Howard said Britain is sending a top police officer to Australia to question 27-year-old Haneef.

Ali told the media on Wednesday that he was extremely tired after the ordeal and just wanted to sleep.

He was interviewed following Haneef's arrest by federal police on Monday night.

He and Haneef both previously worked in Liverpool, England, where they also lived together. Both were trained in India, 'The Age' said.

Ali, who was also a Gold Coast registrar like Haneef, had been assisting police in their inquiries into the UK terror plot and was released late last night.

"I'm totally unaware of anything," he was quoted as saying in the 'The Age' on Wednesday. "Please leave me alone. I don't know anything," he said.

The two lived several blocks apart from each other during their time on the Gold Coast. Haneef's car was found in Ali's garage. Haneef is reportedly understood to have also left a laptop computer with Ali.

But when asked if Ali had either returned to work or been allowed back at Gold Coast Hospital, a spokeswoman for his employer was circumspect.

"We're actually awaiting advice from the Australian Federal Police with regards to Ali at the moment. That's all the information I can give you at the moment," said a hospital spokeswoman.

Meanwhile, the Australian state government of Queensland has assured its support to Ali amid fears that he may quit his post at the Gold Coast Hospital.

Queensland Health Minister Stephen Robertson said he was concerned that Ali had been publicly named 'far too early', making it difficult for him to stay on at the Gold Coast Hospital.

"One would imagine that he might be having a range of thoughts about his career on the Gold Coast with Queensland Health," Robertson said.

Queensland Health director-general Uschi Schreiber had been in contact with the Gold Coast Hospital to ensure Ali be given 'appropriate assistance', he said. "As to how he returns to work is obviously something that we need to handle sensitively."