Australia police end bid to hold suspect in failed UK attacks

SYDNEY (AP) - Australian police on Friday dropped their request to extend the detention of a suspect in the failed British terrorism attacks, but he is not likely to be released immediately and still could be charged.

Australian Federal Police withdrew their application to a magistrate to extend the detention of Indian doctor Muhammad Haneef beyond Friday under counterterrorism laws, a spokesman said on condition of anonymity in line with policy.

The move meant that police had 12 hours left to question Haneef before either charging him or releasing him. Under the laws, the clock runs only when police are actively interviewing Haneef _ meaning that with breaks the deadline could be further off in real time.

Haneef, 27, who came to Australia from Britain last year, was arrested July 2 as he tried to leave the eastern Australian city of Brisbane for India on a one-way ticket.

He is a distant cousin of Kafeel and Sabeel Ahmed, two suspects held in Britain in connection with two bomb-laden cars found in London on June 29 and an attack on a Glasgow airport the next day.

Police on Wednesday lodged an application to keep Haneef in custody _ but not under questioning _ while they collected potential evidence and sifted through a vast amount of computer data, phone records and other material already seized.

Haneef's lawyers opposed the extension and the case returned to court on Friday, where the application was withdrawn.

The New York Times reported on its Web site early Friday that Australian police have established links between Haneef and the other suspects but they're not strong enough to support charges.

But The Times said that Australian investigators, whom it did not further identify, as well as police affidavits viewed by the newspaper have offered the first official details about the contacts between Haneef and some of the London suspects.

The Times reported that investigators were trying to differentiate those contacts that are honest relationships from more sinister ones.

The Times said that in the affidavits, the Australian police say that Haneef visited Sabeel Ahmed in Cambridge, England, twice in 2004, and that he had corresponded with Ahmed "during online chats," the last time earlier this year.

The Australian, one of Australia's most respected newspapers, also reported Friday that authorities have failed to uncover any evidence with which to charge Haneef. The Australian Federal Police refused to comment on the report, saying the "investigation is ongoing and it is not appropriate to comment any further."

Haneef told police of his family ties to the Ahmed brothers, with whom he shared a house in the British city of Liverpool for up to two years. He also has allegedly acknowledged having extensive phone conversations with Kafeel Ahmed, but denies any link to the failed attacks, the newspaper said.

Haneef says he was rushing to leave Australia to visit his wife and newborn baby in Bangalore, India, but the documents reportedly said officials believe Haneef "has not been entirely truthful" about his plans to leave.