Doctor tells of his relief after being cleared of link to failed bomb plot

An Indian doctor questioned in Australia over the failed bomb attacks on London and Glasgow said he was relieved to have been cleared and denied any links to terrorist organisations.

Dr Mohammed Haneef, 27, who arrived at his family home in Bangalore at the weekend after spending nearly four weeks in custody in Australia, was arrested at Brisbane airport on 2 July as he tried to board a flight to India to see his wife and baby daughter.

His arrest came shortly after his second cousins - Sabeel and Kafeel Ahmed - were arrested in Britain over the failed bomb plot. He was released on Friday after Australia's chief prosecutor, Damian Bugg, said mistakes had been made and there was no evidence to support the charge against him.

In an emotional interview with Australia's Nine Network, Dr Haneef said supporting a terrorist organisation was not in his nature. "I never imagined, even in the remotest corner of my brain, that I would be labelled with such a defaming thing," he said.

He said if he had suspected his cousins were planning the attacks he would have passed the information on. "I would have let the parents know first, who are the main sufferers now," he said.

Dr Haneef was freed after prosecutors withdrew a charge at Brisbane magistrates' court that he had provided reckless support to a terrorist organisation.

Prosecutors claimed that his mobile phone SIM card was found in the burning car that crashed into Glasgow airport on 30 June, but it later emerged that the card had actually been found in a flat in Liverpool where his second cousin, Sabeel, lived.

Australian police claim UK officers provided the inaccurate information. Scotland Yard refused to comment, but said in such complex terror inquiries information shared with other agencies was continually being reviewed.

Three people have been charged over the failed attacks on 29 and 30 June.