BRISBANE, Australia - An Indian doctor will be allowed to leave Australia after prosecutors dropped a charge linking him to the recent failed terrorist bombings in Britain, an official said Saturday.

Mohamed Haneef was released from prison Friday after the charge was dropped, but at the time, the government said he could not leave Australia.

On Saturday, Immigration Minister Ken Andrews said Haneef was now free to leave the country.

"The Commonwealth has no objection to Dr. Haneef leaving Australia," Andrews told reporters, referring to the Australian government.

Haneef, 27, will fly the first leg toward India on Saturday, media reported.

He was arrested at the Brisbane International Airport on July 2 as he was about to fly to see his wife and newborn daughter who was ill.

Australia's chief prosecutor Damian Bugg said Friday evidence did not back the charge that Haneef provided reckless support to a terrorist organization when he gave his cell phone SIM card to a relative in Britain a year ago before he left for a hospital job in Australia.

That relative, Sabeel Ahmed, 26, has been charged by British police with withholding information that could have prevented an act of terrorism.

Ahmed's brother, Kafeel Ahmed, is believed to have set himself ablaze after crashing a Jeep into Glasgow Airport and remains in the hospital with critical burns.

Haneef had been in prison because Andrews revoked his work visa two weeks ago based on confidential briefings by police.

Andrews said Friday he was reviewing that decision in light of the charge being dropped.

Meanwhile Haneef is free although he is not allowed a job or passport.

But leading Australian newspapers on Saturday called for Haneef's visa to be returned.

Sydney's The Saturday Daily Telegraph said Haneef "appears -- on the evidence heard so far -- to be guilty only of having some very black sheep in the family."

The Weekend Australian national newspaper said Andrews appeared to have misused his power to appear tough on terrorists months out from a federal election.

"Mr. Andrews is slowly recognizing the serious mistake he made two weeks ago," the newspaper editorial said, referring to the visa cancellation on July 14.

The Gold Coast Hospital said Friday Haneef's job was waiting for him if he regains a work visa.

Peter Beattie, premier of Queensland state where Haneef has lived and worked for almost a year, said the junior doctor should now be allowed to get on with his life.

"We have to be careful when dealing with potential terrorism threats that we don't leave the Australian way of life by the wayside," Beattie said Friday.

Haneef's wife, Firdaus Arshiya, said in the Indian city of Bangalore she hoped her husband would fly home to India within days. But she also wanted him to regain his visa so that he could return to Australia.

The Indian government said it would support a request for a bridging visa so that Haneef could leave Australia on his own accord, rather than be deported.