Terror suspect Haneef cooperating: Indian officials

Indian authorities assure Mohammad Haneef is cooperating with the Australian authorities and is in good health.

Mohammad Haneef, the Indian doctor arrested at Brisbane airport for his suspected link with the British terror plots is cooperating with the Australian authorities and is in good health, official sources said in the Capital.

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"The Australian authorities have told our high commission in Canberra that Haneef is cooperating with the investigating agencies," a source in the external affairs ministry told IANS.

"He was detained on the advice of the British authorities. No charges have been made against him yet," sources said.

Indian High Commissioner to Australia Prabhat Shukla confirmed that they have been given consular access to Haneef, who was detained earlier this week.

"We have had consular contact with Dr Haneef, and are continuing to keep in touch with him. We are also in touch with his family in India," Shukla said.

"At the same time, we have been victims of terrorism ourselves, and therefore take our counter-terrorism commitment equally seriously. Our prime minister has reiterated this position yesterday," Shukla added.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday said he spoke to his British counterpart Gordon Brown a day earlier and assured him of all cooperation to Britain in investigating the aborted terror plots in Glasgow and London last week.

In the same breath, Manmohan Singh cautioned Britain against the dangers of labelling any community or religion and asked it not to draw hasty conclusions on the presumed guilt of Indians detained in connection with the terror plots.

Investigations in Australia have revealed that Indian two suspects in the plots, Kafeel and Sabeel Ahmed, had applied for work in Queensland as well as Western Australia.