Post by Flash on Dec 4, 2007 0:43:24 GMT -5
Muslims tell Rudd to maintain hard line
MUSLIM leaders are urging the fledgling Rudd Government to maintain the hardline stance against extremists, fearing the end of the Howard era will embolden radicals. Sydney-based Muslim cleric Hersi Hilole warned the Rudd administration against being "light and lenient" on radicals. Sheik Hilole said radical Muslims could interpret John Howard's electoral loss as an opportunity to express their ideological beliefs openly and drum up their recruitment drive. "The extremists will try to take every advantage that they think will be possible and available for them and they will most probably try to spread their ideas and recruit more people for their cause," he told The Australian.
But Indonesian Muslim spiritual leader Amin Hady said the Rudd Government must embrace a more inclusive approach when dealing with the Islamic community and not sideline hardliners. He said the previous government's unwillingness to include Islamic hardliners such as Melbourne-based cleric Mohammed Omran on Mr Howard's Islamic reference board was counterproductive because it further distanced an element of the Muslim community that was most in need of integration.
Sheik Hady said Mr Rudd should work with mainstream Muslim leaders to help his Government gain better access into the minds of hardliners. "The Government should use mainstream leaders to approach them (hardliners) and to bring them in line with the rest of the community members," said the former member of Mr Howard's Islamic reference group. "Of course, we acknowledge that there are certain extremist groups in the Muslim society."
The Australian revealed in July that national security authorities were aware of at least 10 hardline clerics around the country, including Sheik Omran, who were propagating a Wahabi ideology espoused by al-Qa'ida leader Osama bin Laden. It was also revealed that Wahabi clerics were potentially radicalising up to 3000 young Sydneysiders alone.
A spokesman for Sheik Omran's fundamentalist Ahlus Sunnah Wal Jammah association said the group was optimistic the Rudd Government would be more interested in hearing about their views and community work. "We are all optimistic of the change of government," said Abu Yusuf. "It opens a new chapter in dialogue between the Muslim and non-Muslim communities."
Sheik Hilole - a respected Somali community figure who has repeatedly attacked Australian Muslims who have travelled overseas to fight jihad - said Mr Rudd needed to learn from Mr Howard's mistake and not "exaggerate" the potential threat of Islamic terrorism in Australia. "Hopefully, the Rudd Government will face the issue in a real way not an exaggerated way," he said. "The Howard Government failed to act on extremism appropriately ... because of the exaggeration and generalisation of the Muslim community and many mistakes that the national security (authorities) have done."
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MUSLIM leaders are urging the fledgling Rudd Government to maintain the hardline stance against extremists, fearing the end of the Howard era will embolden radicals. Sydney-based Muslim cleric Hersi Hilole warned the Rudd administration against being "light and lenient" on radicals. Sheik Hilole said radical Muslims could interpret John Howard's electoral loss as an opportunity to express their ideological beliefs openly and drum up their recruitment drive. "The extremists will try to take every advantage that they think will be possible and available for them and they will most probably try to spread their ideas and recruit more people for their cause," he told The Australian.
But Indonesian Muslim spiritual leader Amin Hady said the Rudd Government must embrace a more inclusive approach when dealing with the Islamic community and not sideline hardliners. He said the previous government's unwillingness to include Islamic hardliners such as Melbourne-based cleric Mohammed Omran on Mr Howard's Islamic reference board was counterproductive because it further distanced an element of the Muslim community that was most in need of integration.
Sheik Hady said Mr Rudd should work with mainstream Muslim leaders to help his Government gain better access into the minds of hardliners. "The Government should use mainstream leaders to approach them (hardliners) and to bring them in line with the rest of the community members," said the former member of Mr Howard's Islamic reference group. "Of course, we acknowledge that there are certain extremist groups in the Muslim society."
The Australian revealed in July that national security authorities were aware of at least 10 hardline clerics around the country, including Sheik Omran, who were propagating a Wahabi ideology espoused by al-Qa'ida leader Osama bin Laden. It was also revealed that Wahabi clerics were potentially radicalising up to 3000 young Sydneysiders alone.
A spokesman for Sheik Omran's fundamentalist Ahlus Sunnah Wal Jammah association said the group was optimistic the Rudd Government would be more interested in hearing about their views and community work. "We are all optimistic of the change of government," said Abu Yusuf. "It opens a new chapter in dialogue between the Muslim and non-Muslim communities."
Sheik Hilole - a respected Somali community figure who has repeatedly attacked Australian Muslims who have travelled overseas to fight jihad - said Mr Rudd needed to learn from Mr Howard's mistake and not "exaggerate" the potential threat of Islamic terrorism in Australia. "Hopefully, the Rudd Government will face the issue in a real way not an exaggerated way," he said. "The Howard Government failed to act on extremism appropriately ... because of the exaggeration and generalisation of the Muslim community and many mistakes that the national security (authorities) have done."
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