Australia drops terror charge

BRISBANE, Australia (Reuters) -- Australia's top prosecutor on Friday dropped a terror charge against an Indian doctor accused of supporting last month's failed bomb attacks on London and Scotland.

The Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions Damian Bugg withdrew the charge against Mohamed Haneef in the Brisbane Magistrates Court on Friday.

Haneef remains in custody and it isn't clear if he will be released or deported to India, officials said.

Bugg told reporters in Canberra that he withdrew the charges because he was satisfied "there was no reasonable prospect of conviction."

Haneef, 27, had been charged with supporting a terrorist organization because he gave his mobile phone SIM card to a second cousin, Sabeel Ahmed, in July last year.

He has been held in the eastern city of Brisbane since July 2 when he was arrested at the international airport as he was about to fly to India.

A court ordered Haneef's release on bail last week but Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews kept him in prison by canceling his visa on character grounds, based on information provided by the federal police.

It was not immediately clear whether Haneef would be deported from Australia, or allowed to remain and appeal the immigration minister's decision.

But Federal Police Commissioner Mick Keelty said he would not revise his advice to the minister, saying "the grounds on which the AFP provided advice to the minister for immigration have not changed."

Ahmed, 26, has been charged with withholding information that could prevent an act of terrorism. His brother, Kafeel Ahmed, is believed to have set himself ablaze after crashing into Glasgow Airport and remains in a Scottish hospital with critical burns. E-mail to a friend

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