Australian PM says no apologies to Haneef

Australian Prime Minister John Howard has ruled out apologising to Mohamed Haneef, jailed for almost four weeks as part of a bungled terror probe, and rejected the view that the Indian doctor was victimised.

Howard said mistakes happened from time to time, and when dealing with terrorism, it was better to be safe than sorry.

"Australia will not be apologising to Dr Haneef," Howard told reporters in Sydney. "Dr Haneef was not victimised, and Australia's international reputation has not been harmed by this mis-start to its new anti-terrorism laws," he was quoted as saying by the media here.

Haneef has been reunited with his wife and new-born baby in Bangalore after a charge of supporting a terrorist organisation was dropped due to lack of evidence.

The Indian doctor, whose work visa was cancelled on character grounds, said he had been victimised by Australian authorities and the Australian Federal Police (AFP).

His lawyer Peter Russo said the government owed Haneef an apology."He is not expecting one (an apology), but I guess if the people who are in line for being sued want to mitigate their losses they might want to think about apologies," Russo told ABC Radio.

Howard said he supported the AFP and Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews who revoked Haneef's visa earlier this month, just hours after a Brisbane court had granted him bail.  Despite the collapse of the case, Andrews has refused to reinstate the visa unless the Indian national's lawyers successfully appeal against the decision in the Federal Court.