Police accused of tampering with Haneef's diary

Amid criticism it was becoming a laughing stock, Australian police was today dogged by another revelation that it tampered with the personal diary of Mohammed Haneef and wrote the names of some overseas terror suspects to strengthen its case.

Investigating officers were accused of writing the potentially incriminating evidence and later grilling the Indian doctor facing terror charges during an interrogation over whether he had made the entries.

The revelation in "The Australian" added to the string of blunders in the police investigations and false leaks apparently aimed at making the case against the Indian doctor stronger than it is.

The Howard government also faced fresh accusations of manipulating the case for political gain in an election year.

The Australian police was described by Queensland Premier Peter Beattie as bumbling "Keystone Cops" for their handling of the case, a comparison to the incompetent policeman of the silent movie era.

Greens Senator Kerry Nettle charged that the Howard government had placed incredible political pressure on the police to tarnish Haneef's reputation with leaks of information related to his case.

She said the Australian Federal Police (AFP) had become a "laughing stock" and the pressure they had been under had seen them skip over the facts and make so many mistakes in the case.

The mistake was revealed in the record of the first interview between Haneef and two officers from the AFP's counter-terrorism force, Queensland Detective Sergeant Adam Simms and federal agent Neil Thompson.