Doctors charged over UK bomb plot

LONDON, England (CNN) -- British police said on Saturday they had charged a 26-year-old Indian doctor in connection with last month's failed terror attacks in London and Glasgow -- on the same day the man's second cousin, another Indian-born doctor, appeared in court in Australia.

Sabeel Ahmed, arrested in Liverpool on the same weekend of the attempted car bombings, will appear in court on Monday charged with having information that could have prevented an act of terrorism, the Metropolitan Police said in a statement.

Ahmed is the third man to be charged in connection with the alleged plot after Mohammed Haneef, his second cousin, appeared in court in Australia on Saturday.

Haneef, 27, was bearded, handcuffed and seated behind a glass compartment, intently listening to the defense and prosecution's arguments in the magistrate courtroom, CNN-IBN senior correspondent Aditya Mehta said.

His court appearance came hours after Australian federal police charged him with providing support to a terrorist organization.

The Australian federal police said the charge carried a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison.

Discussions during the court proceedings centered around allegations that Haneef provided a mobile phone SIM card to Ahmed who, along with his brother Kafeel, are among six other suspects being held in Britain.

"The specific allegation (against Haneef) involves recklessness rather than intention," said Australian Federal Police Commissioner Mick Keelty on Saturday.

"The allegation being that he was reckless about some of the support he provided to that group, in particular the provision of his SIM card for the use of the group."

No one has confirmed if the SIM card was used in the failed UK terror plot, but as the investigation goes on details will become a lot clearer, Mehta said.

Meanwhile, Haneef's lawyer has not discussed extraditing Haneef to Britain, according to Mehta. Haneef's wife, Firdaus Haneef, called the charges "baseless" and said she would fight them.

Speaking by phone from Bangalore, India to CNN on Saturday, Firdaus argued if the charges were serious authorities could have brought them against Haneef immediately.

"I think the charge is baseless," she said. "I think the entire country, everyone knows it is not a charge."

On Friday, the Australian police dropped a bid to seek a third extension of his detention without charge. By law they were given 12 hours to either charge him or release him. Australia charges UK plot suspect »

Haneef was officially charged Saturday but was detained July 2 at the Brisbane, Australia, airport while he was waiting to catch a flight out of the country, officials said.

He had purchased a one-way ticket to Bangalore because, according to Firdaus, "he wanted me, my daughter and mother in-law to travel together with him to Australia."

In regards to the SIM card that Keelty said was provided for the use of the group, Firdaus said after one year he didn't have "anything to do with that SIM card."

"He didn't pay money on the SIM card after one year," she said.

Haneef was the second person to be charged in connection with the failed UK attacks.

The other has been identified by sources as Iraq-trained doctor Bilal Abdulla. Authorities said Abdulla was one of two men who left two car bombs in central London June 29 and rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into a terminal at Glasgow's airport the next day. He has been charged with conspiracy to cause explosions likely to endanger life.

The three charged are among seven men detained in the case in the days following the incidents.

Four others are in custody without charges since British police can detain and question suspects for up to 28 days.

The detention deadline was extended for one of the four on Saturday.

Authorities said "a warrant of further detention has been applied for and granted" for a 26-year-old man who was arrested June 30. The warrant expires July 21.

A 27-year-old man and a 24-year-old man are are in custody at a Central London police station. A third was severely burned in the Glasgow airport attack and remains hospitalized.

British authorities arrested and then later released another person -- identified by sources as Marwa Dana Asha, the wife of one of the other doctors being held. E-mail to a friend

-- CNN's Alphonso Van Marsh and CNN-IBN's Aditya Mehta contributed to this report.