UK terror plot: Suspect was denied work in Aus

One of the key suspects in the failed terror plot in the UK used more than one name to apply for work as a doctor in Western Australia but did not pass the professional standards, the Australian Medical Association has said.

On Thursday, it became clear that two doctors - Sabeel and Kafeel Ahmed - detained in the UK over the failed bombing attacks, applied to work as doctors in Western Australia but were rejected because of concerns over their qualifications and references.

Another medico Mohammed Asif Ali, who was released by the Australian police after being held in connection with the plot, had also been rejected.

AMA Western Australia president Geoff Dobbs said one of the men applied several times to work as doctor.

"We are told that one of the applicants did apply on more than one occasion using slightly different names," Dobbs was qouted by a local radio channel.

But he said the AMA recruitment agency has very stringent checks to ensure doctors meet the professional standards required and none of the doctors passed that test.

"They didn't meet the standards which we required," he said. "Hypothetically, if they had been better qualified, could they have slipped through the professional checks that we have? The answer to that is yes, but they didn't meet those standards." 

Dobbs said the AMA had about 2,000 overseas applications every year for work in Western Australia but only 150 to 200 were accepted.

Meanwhile, Australian Federal Police and a British counter-terrorism chief are continuing to question Indian medico Mohammed Haneef over the failed terrorism bid in London and Scotland.

Haneef was detained in Brisbane on Monday. An Australian court on Thursday extended his detention by four days for further interrogation.

AMA president Rosanna Capolingua also expressed concern about Queensland's recruiting of overseas doctors, saying it may have a lower benchmark than other states.

"You have to remember that it was actually the Queensland government, Queensland Health that brought the doctor in," she told the a local radio. "I think it's a reflection of governmental pressure to supply doctors, so it was expediency for government needs, pressure for supply of doctors into the workforce that meant the benchmark for Queensland was lower perhaps than the benchmark for AMA Western Australia. I don't know what level of scrutiny Queensland Health placed when they recruited this particular doctor."

Capolingua added that the system for recruiting overseas doctors needed to be assessed - "We need to have a more uniform process and certainly there is a push for that."

However, the push is one where there will be only one entry point into Australia, not as now where you have to actually apply to each state for entry, and I fear that maybe only one entry point might make the situation even worse."