INDIAN-BORN doctor Mohamed Haneef was in a secret safe house in Brisbane last night after the case against him dissolved into fiasco, with Australia's chief prosecutor admitting it had been bungled and there was no reasonable prospect of a conviction.
Dr Haneef was spirited out of prison hours after the charge against him was dropped and a clearly embarrassed Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews said he was seeking legal advice about whether the latest development meant he should reverse his decision to cancel the doctor's visa.
As yesterday's extraordinary events unravelled:
■The Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions, Damien Bugg, could not explain how a prosecutor falsely told a court that Dr Haneef's SIM card was found in a burnt Jeep Cherokee at Glasgow Airport.
■Australian Federal Police Commissioner Mick Keelty said police had done their job professionally and vowed that the investigation into any Australian connection with the British terror attacks would continue. He would not rule out further charges against Dr Haneef.
■Mr Andrews said Dr Haneef could leave prison and live in "residential detention" at his apartment on the Gold Coast or another place of his choosing.
■Mr Andrews said he would seek advice from the Commonwealth Solicitor-General on whether the decision to drop the charge against Dr Haneef had any bearing on his earlier decision to revoke his 457 work visa and deport him.
Dr Haneef's wife, Firdous Arshiya, said last night she had thanked God when she learned the charge against her husband had been dropped. "Now I want him to come home as quickly as possible," she said.
As immigration lawyers expressed fury about the way Dr Haneef's case had been handled and minor-party politicians demanded that Mr Andrews resign, the Labor Opposition, which until yesterday had supported the Commonwealth's stance, called for an independent inquiry into the affair.
Prime Minister John Howard last night sought to distance his Government from the debacle. "The detention of the man was undertaken by the police and not at the request or direction or encouragement of the Government," he said.
The latest twists in the saga came after Mr Bugg ordered that a charge of recklessly supplying a mobile SIM card to a terrorist organisation be withdrawn, and that no evidence be offered.
Mr Bugg admitted that his office had made a mistake in advising police to charge Dr Haneef and that one of his prosecutors had given a Brisbane court incorrect evidence, possibly because he had been pressed for time. "On my view of the matter, a mistake has been made," Mr Bugg said. "I will now take further steps to inquire as to how that mistake occurred."
Australian prosecutors have dropped charges against Dr Mohamed Haneef, the Indian doctor held in Australia in connection with last month's attack on Glasgow airport. 

The Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions, Mr Bugg, said on Friday that a review he carried out found that there was insufficient evidence to support the charges of providing material support to terrorism laid against Dr. Haneef and that "embarrassing" mistakes were made. 

Dr Haneef was released from gaol and into "residential detention" until Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews reviews his earlier decision to cancel Haneef's visa.

Mr Bugg said that a prosecutor had told a Brisbane court incorrect information. He said that one of his prosecutors told the court that the SIM card at the centre of the affair was found in a Jeep which was laden with explosives and driven into Glasgow International Airport on June 30. 

"The first related to the SIM card and was based on a misunderstanding of the facts," Bugg said.

"The second related to the residence of Dr. Haneef in the U.K. and was based on incorrect material provided by the AFP."

Australian Federal Police chief Mick Kelty denied that the AFP had made any mistakes and said investigations would continue. He refused to rule out laying further charges against Dr Haneef.

Australian Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews who previously suspended Dr Haneef's work visa after he was granted bail has said he will review his decision to cancel the visa on character grounds. Mr Andrews said that Haneef had to reside in a place of his choosing and was free to move about the community but had to report to Immigration officials daily by telephone and in person every few days.

Speaking last night, Prime Minister John Howard attempted to distance his government from the affair claiming that his government had no control over how the police operate. 

Australian civil rights groups and political parties have strongly criticised the handling of the investigations.

Haneef accompanied by his lawyer Peter Russo and his cousin Imran Siddiqui when he flew out of Brisbane Airport on Thai Airways flight TG 992 to Bangalore, India.