Doctor cleared of links to airport terror attack

Sydney A doctor has been cleared of involvement in the terrorism attack at Glasgow airport in June last year. Australian police said that there was insufficient evidence to prosecute Mohamed Haneef, who was arrested in Brisbane as he boarded a flight to India days after the attack.

Kafeel Ahmed, a distant relation of Dr Haneef, died of severe burns after driving a Jeep containing gas canisters into the airport.

Dr Haneef, 28, who worked at a hospital in Queensland, was said by his lawyer, Rod Hodgson, to be delighted that police had cleared him of involvement in the attack on the airport, and of earlier attempted car bomb attacks in London. Mr Hodgson added that Dr Haneef wanted an apology from the Australian Government and would seek compensation.

Dr Haneef had been held for 12 days under anti-terror laws before police charged him with providing support for a terrorist group. The charge was dropped two weeks later when prosecutors decided that there was no reasonable prospect of a conviction. (AP)

Civilians told to flee Tamil Tiger territories

Colombo Government helicopters in Sri Lanka dropped leaflets urging civilians living in areas held by Tamil Tiger rebels to flee to government-controlled territory as fighting escalated in the embattled north. Tens of thousands of Sri Lankans have been driven from their homes in the north as government forces seized territory that had been controlled by the separatist guerrillas, aid groups say.

The rebels have fought for an independent state since 1983, after decades of marginalisation of ethnic Tamils by governments dominated by the Sinhalese majority. More than 70,000 people have been killed. (AP)

Genocide charge

Dar es Salaam The UN court in Tanzania trying the architects of Rwanda’s 1994 massacres have reversed the 2006 genocide conviction and 25-year jail sentence of Tharcisse Muvunyi, a former lieutenant-colonel, the court said. It did not explain its decision but said that Muvunyi would be retried for inciting the public to commit genocide, based on a speech he made in Gikore Trade Centre in Butare. (Reuters)

Builders reveal boats

Oslo At least nine boats, the largest about 56ft (17m) long, were found on the building site for a road tunnel, the project’s lead archaeologist said. The wooden wrecks had been well preserved in mud and fresh water for 400 years. “For us, this is a sensation,” Jostein Gundersen said. “There has never been a find of so many boats and in such good condition at one site in Norway.” (AP)

Last veteran dies

London Gladys Powers, believed to be the last surviving female First World War veteran, has died in Canada at the age of 109, the Ministry of Defence said. She died in hospital in Abbotsford, British Columbia, after a fall. Mrs Powers, born in London, lied about her age to join the Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps at 15 and served as a waitress in the Women’s Royal Air Force. (AP)

Tower out-leans Pisa

Bedum The Tower of Pisa is no longer Europe’s most steeply leaning, a retired Dutch geometrician has claimed. Jacob van Dijk said that measurements made at the 12th-century church tower of Walfridus in Bedum showed that if it were as tall as its Italian rival it would lean by 6m, compared with Pisa’s 4m. The Tower of Pisa has lost part of its tilt after restoration work recently. (Reuters)

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