The people who get my sympathy in this whole sordid mess are the Brits. I had no idea life was so tough over there in Old Blighty. Not so long ago the Brits were at the cutting edge of technology which was represented by the Concorde. Hot on the heels of Concorde being scrapped comes the news that Brits have mobile phones but no SIM cards. They are forced to rely on the generosity of relatives and friends to supply those neoteric gizmos.

Pericles,what you wrote has sensible points in you contribution, however "suspicion by association", for Heavens sake, that would apply to you, me and every other person, and we aren't in custody. The way this farce is being played out, for political advantage, would it not be fair to consider my statement as I put it?.

This is facism, pure and simple. Anybody who can't see this is either themselves a fascist or is as dumb as a rock.

Bushwracker

The definition of fascism is
"A system of government marked by centralization of authority under a dictator, stringent socioeconomic controls, suppression of the opposition through terror and censorship, and typically a policy of belligerent nationalism and racism."

The last I look there was no stringent socioeconic control, Kevin Rudd is still running around and is in support of the Federal police, we have no problem with Indians.

"Suspicion by association"?
a. there was an attempted bombing in Scotland
b. the attackers planned to use mobile phones to detonate the bomb
c. one of the bomber had a SIM card owned by the defendant at the time of capture.
d. the perpertrator of the bombing are all doctors
e. the defendant's wife went back to india before the bombing, he try to get out of the country within a week of the bombing

I think there is sufficient evidence to at lease hold the defendant for a longer length of time, to ensure he is not a terrorist. If we let him go and he go and bomb a train in India and kill a thousand people, the same idiots will be jumping up and down saying the government let him go.

I have just read the report of the first AFP interview with Haneef as published in The Australian which can be found at http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22093642-601,00.html. There is also the full transcript which I will leave to experts like Plantagenet.

The reporter implies that if Dr Haneef had not panicked and drawn attention to himself by attempting to telephone the British Police to confess that it was his SIM card he could have travelled to India unimpeded. Dr Haneef sounds naive and exaggerated the importance of the connection between himself and his second cousin. I think he is better off in India with his wife beside him telling him what to do.

PS how responsible should we be for the actions of our second cousins? I am particularly vulnerable as I have hundreds of second cousins.

I forgot to comment on the wierdness of police transcripts being leaked to newspapers. Is this a federal policeman who is sympathetic to Dr Haneef's plight? Is it a political leak? What is the motive for the leak?