From The Australian, October 30, 2006, by Natalie O'Brien ...
A RADICAL Islamic group accused of infiltrating mosques and urging Muslims to rise up against Australian troops serving in Iraq ...Hizb ut-Tahrir (Party of Liberation) [was] seen handing out leaflets outside Sydney's Lakemba mosque, claiming the furore about Sheik Taj Din al-Hilali's comments was the latest effort in the West's "campaign to demonise Islam and intimidate the Muslim community". The group ... blamed the media and politicians for inflaming the situation.
Wassim Doureihi, a Sydney spokesman for Hizb ut-Tahrir, said Muslims must hold fast and continue to expose the reality of Western foreign policy. "Whether it is the question of homegrown terrorism, Muslim integration or the Muslim women's dress code, Islam is consistently being presented as a negative and backward presence in this country and beyond," Mr Doureihi said.
Hizb ut-Tahrir, a hardline political group that is banned in some countries but not in Australia, has been distributing flyers at prayer meetings. One of the group's previous Arabic-English pamphlets blamed the coalition forces in Iraq for creating divisions between the Sunnis and Shi'ites. The group, which claims about 200 members, has been criticised by John Howard and investigated by ASIO, but there was not enough evidence to designate Hizb ut-Tahrir as a terrorist organisation.
Nor have there been grounds to lay charges over its leaflets....Hizb ut-Tahrir's website says the group does not "advocate or engage in violence".
No comments:
Post a Comment