Aussie clean in Qaeda fund case

Melbourne, Oct. 23: An Australian man who spent time at an Al Qaeda training camp in Afghanistan and who met Osama bin Laden was found innocent on Thursday of receiving funds from the terrorist group.

Joseph Thomas, a 35-year-old Muslim convert dubbed "Jihad Jack" by the Australian media, was convicted on the lesser charge of possessing a falsified passport, for which he still faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a large fine.

The jury’s verdicts marked the end of Joseph’s second trial on the charges and a five-year seesaw ride through the legal system since his arrest in Pakistan in 2003. Joseph was arrested after leaving Afghanistan where, by his own admission, he spent time in an Al Qaeda training camp and met Bin Laden, whom he later described as "very polite and humble and shy."

He was returned to Australia and charged under tough anti-terrorism laws introduced as part of a security crackdown after the September 11, 2001, attacks in the US. Joseph was sentenced in 2006 to five years in prison for receiving funds from a terrorist organisation and holding a falsified passport. —AP

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Police defends role in Haneef probe

Melbourne, Oct. 23: The Australian Federal Police has defended the role of its officers in the botched terrorism probe related to Indian doctor Mohammed Haneef in it’s unclassified submission to an inquiry, was made public on Thursday.

The AFP was under pressure to make public some of its submission to the inquiry since Australian Security Intelligence Organisation had allowed the public release of an abridged version of its submission in July. It finally made its unclassified submission public on Thursday.

"This case was no exception. However, the AFP is firmly of the belief that the officers involved in the investigation into Mr Haneef acted professionally," it said. —PTI