Police in Australia have been granted more time under counter-terrorism laws to detain without charge an Indian doctor arrested a week ago over the failed terrorist plots in London and Glasgow, police and his lawyer said.
Federal police asked a magistrate to grant them five more days to hold Muhammad Haneef while they investigate whether he was part of the plot, his lawyer, Peter Russo, said.
But the magistrate instead gave the police 48 hours to prepare more material to show why his detention should be continued, Russo told ABC television.
An Australian Federal Police spokesman confirmed police had been granted two more days to hold Haneef, and that the case would return to a closed court hearing on Wednesday.
Haneef, 27, who was working at a hospital in eastern Queensland state after emigrating from Britain last year, was detained on July 2 as he tried to board a flight to India with a one-way ticket.
He is being held under counter-terrorism laws that allow authorities to detain him without charge for periods approved by a legal officer.
An earlier order allowing authorities to hold Haneef expired on Monday.
On Sunday officers searched Haneef's apartment on the Gold Coast for the second time, and officials say they have collected tens of thousands of pages of documents and other material in the investigation.
Attorney General Phillip Ruddock said suspicion about Haneef was heightened because he was rushing to leave Australia when he was arrested.
Prime Minister John Howard declined to comment on Haneef's detention, except to say he was subject to the presumption of innocence. "He has not been charged with any offence, and he may not be charged with any offence," Howard said.
