Haneef relieved, expects apology from Australia

MELBOURNE: Indian doctor Mohammad Haneef, whose detention in connection with the failed UK bombings was declared 'wrongful' after a special enquiry, said that he held no grudge against Australian government but an apology from it "would go very handy".

"I was very very pleased and very relieved and thankful," Haneef, who now works in Dubai, was quoted by Australian agency AAP as saying.

Insisting that he was grateful to Clarke for his report, he said, "It (report) has given me a clean sheet" and that he did not hold any resentment towards the Government.

Tuesday's report released by retired NSW Supreme Court judge John Clarke exonerated the Indian-born doctor, who the enquiry said was wrongly charged and wrongly detained on the Gold Coast last year over suspected links to terrorist acts in the UK.

Bernard Murphy, a member of Haneef's legal team, said the report was a "complete exoneration and vindication of Haneef and it was a "political disaster" for former immigration minister Kevin Andrews and an "organisational disaster" for the Australian federal police.

Murphy said Andrews' attempt to use the report to justify his actions were "more spin" from the Government. "Its just a joke," he said.

Haneef's Brisbane-based lawyer Peter Russo said the findings would bring relief to his client.

"Unfortunately there are still some people.. who think there must have been something or the police wouldn't have charged," Russo said, adding, "It's very difficult to overcome that."