As Imran Siddiqui, the cousin of Haneef's wife, arrived in Brisbane last night in a show of support, several senior Government sources said they were furious at the Australian Federal Police's handling of the case and wanted to shut the issue down before it did more damage to the Government's credibility.
"Our best option is to cancel the Criminal Justice Certificate, which was issued to keep Haneef here in Australia after we cancelled his visa, and that is my understanding of what our intentions are," one Government source said."Cancel the certificate and get this guy out of Australia. The story ends there and he can become someone else's problem."
Mr Ruddock issued the Certificate of Justice so that Haneef's deportation could be stayed pending judicial proceedings. But with the police case surrounding Haneef collapsing after revelations that the SIM card he left in Britain was not used in the failed suicide bomb attack in Glasgow, Government strategists believe there is little point holding him in Australia.
"There is no upside proceeding with this. We keep him here, then it remains an issue every day until the election. We deport him and it's over," the source said.
Haneef's SIM card was not found in the car used in the attempted bombing of Glasgow Airport, as initially claimed by the Commonwealth. It was found in Liverpool with his cousin, Sabeel Ahmed.
