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SYDNEY - Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews says releasing the full transcript of a second record of interview with Dr Mohamed Haneef is a matter for the Australian Federal police.
He said he did not even have a copy of the transcript.
Mr Andrews has revealed that two phone
calls and an online chat were behind his controversial move to revoke the Indian national's visa, hours after the hospital registrar was granted bail on a charge of providing support to a terrorist organisation.
In the internet chat room a day after a failed attack on Glasgow airport, in which his second cousin was allegedly involved, Dr Haneef's brother Shoaib told him nothing had been "found out" about the doctor, and asked when he would be leaving Australia.
Dr Haneef replied: "Today".
But Dr Haneef's lawyer Peter Russo says the information is not new, is covered in a second record of interview with Dr Haneef, and was known to the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions long before it decided to drop the terrorism charge due to a lack of evidence.
Mr Russo said the government was running a campaign of smear and innuendo against his client to cover its embarrassing mistakes on national security.
"If the government will give us the second record of interview then we can make a judgment call on whether it should be released, so that then the public can be fully informed," Mr Russo said.
Mr Andrews said today said he did not have a copy of the interview transcript.
"That's a matter for the federal police," Mr Andrews told Southern Cross Broadcasting.
"It's in their possession, not in mine.
"What I had before me was protected information from the federal police which included the material which was released by the Solicitor General for opinion or advice yesterday and included other material which the police commissioner, Mr (Bill) Keelty, has continued to maintain should remain protected because it goes to matters that could jeopardise the investigations in the UK and Australia."
He said he had full confidence in Mr Keelty and the federal police.
"The reason why the charge was withdrawn was because one of the elements of the charge in the view of the Director of Public Prosecutions, couldn't be made out and for that reason he took the step of withdrawing the charge."
Mr Andrews said he would act in the safety and interest of Australians.
- AAP
