Radicals recruiting outside Sydney's mosques

By Eamonn Duff
July 24, 2005

A radical Islamic group linked to the London bombings, and outlawed in British universities and across the Middle East, has launched an underground recruitment campaign aimed at Muslim youth in Sydney.
The group, Hizb ut-Tahrir, which describes suicide bombers as martyrs and openly advocates the destruction of Western ideals, held its second meeting behind closed doors in western Sydney on Friday night.
The British Home Office and Pakistan's intelligence agencies are investigating the group's links to Shehzad Tanweer, 22, one of the four suicide bombers who killed 56 people in London two weeks ago.
Sydney's mainstream Islamic community is believed to have warned the group, whose name means the Party of (Islamic) Liberation, to stop distributing material near local mosques in an effort to recruit young Muslims to its cause.
One leaflet declares "the war on Islam is reignited" and claims the London bombings are being used to "pressure the Muslims into blinding submission in the West".
Wassim Doureihi, a Hizb ut-Tahrir leader in Sydney, confirmed that a meeting of up to 30 new members had taken place on Friday night

He said there was no hard evidence linking either Tanweer or any other Hizb ut-Tahrir members to the London bombings. But he refused to denounce the attacks.
"It's unconstructive to expect the Muslim world to mobilise a response to these events when there is no solid information to act upon. We have snippets and circumstances but no hard evidence.
"But at the same time, what we know for sure, and what is obvious to the rest of the world, is the reality of what is happening in Iraq and Afghanistan … and for that reason, we can squarely point the blame at Western governments, whether it's America, the UK or Australia … in terms of what they have perpetrated."
The Federal Government will investigate ways of identifying, blocking and possibly deporting radical ideologues who promote terrorism in Australia.
Clerics and others who promoted training in terrorism could be charged with a new offence of "indirect incitement" to violence being considered by the Government.
Despite a blanket ban among college campuses across Britain, Hizb ut-Tahrir has resurfaced using different names, and continues to draw a strong following among Muslim students.
The group, however, has been under the terrorism microscope for several years. September 11 hijacker Mohammed Atta made contact with Hizb ut-Tahrir members in Germany before the attack.
The party also boasts a large following in Central Asia and has been blamed for a spate of suicide bombing attacks and recent riots in Uzbekistan. It remains outlawed across the Middle East.
Sydney Muslim leaders yesterday expressed concerns about Hizb ut-Tahrir, which they described as a provocative fringe group not aligned to any of the larger Islamic organisations. One, who did not wish to be named, said: "They are opposed to integration, even with other Muslim groups. For these reasons, they're treated with disdain and have been asked to stop what they are doing."
Australian National University's director of terrorism studies, Clive Williams, said: "Hizb ut-Tahrir is an organisation promoting the desirability of a return to a fundamental period of Islam. There's no hard evidence of it advocating violence but there has been considerable cause for concern in the UK and other countries following reports of threats, links to bombings and the peddling of racism. To find out that a local chapter existed would not be desirable."
- With Kerry-Anne Walsh
The leaflet being distributed outside Sydney mosques.
Clerics and others who promoted training in terrorism could be charged with a new offence of "indirect incitement" to violence being considered by the Government.
Despite a blanket ban among college campuses across Britain, Hizb ut-Tahrir has resurfaced using different names, and continues to draw a strong following among Muslim students.
The group, however, has been under the terrorism microscope for several years. September 11 hijacker Mohammed Atta made contact with Hizb ut-Tahrir members in Germany before the attack.
The party also boasts a large following in Central Asia and has been blamed for a spate of suicide bombing attacks and recent riots in Uzbekistan. It remains outlawed across the Middle East.
Sydney Muslim leaders yesterday expressed concerns about Hizb ut-Tahrir, which they described as a provocative fringe group not aligned to any of the larger Islamic organisations. One, who did not wish to be named, said: "They are opposed to integration, even with other Muslim groups. For these reasons, they're treated with disdain and have been asked to stop what they are doing."
Australian National University's director of terrorism studies, Clive Williams, said: "Hizb ut-Tahrir is an organisation promoting the desirability of a return to a fundamental period of Islam. There's no hard evidence of it advocating violence but there has been considerable cause for concern in the UK and other countries following reports of threats, links to bombings and the peddling of racism. To find out that a local chapter existed would not be desirable."
- With Kerry-Anne Walsh

He said there was no hard evidence linking either Tanweer or any other Hizb ut-Tahrir members to the London bombings. But he refused to denounce the attacks.
"It's unconstructive to expect the Muslim world to mobilise a response to these events when there is no solid information to act upon. We have snippets and circumstances but no hard evidence.
"But at the same time, what we know for sure, and what is obvious to the rest of the world, is the reality of what is happening in Iraq and Afghanistan … and for that reason, we can squarely point the blame at Western governments, whether it's America, the UK or Australia … in terms of what they have perpetrated."
The Federal Government will investigate ways of identifying, blocking and possibly deporting radical ideologues who promote terrorism in Australia.
Clerics and others who promoted training in terrorism could be charged with a new offence of "indirect incitement" to violence being considered by the Government.
Despite a blanket ban among college campuses across Britain, Hizb ut-Tahrir has resurfaced using different names, and continues to draw a strong following among Muslim students.
The group, however, has been under the terrorism microscope for several years. September 11 hijacker Mohammed Atta made contact with Hizb ut-Tahrir members in Germany before the attack.
The party also boasts a large following in Central Asia and has been blamed for a spate of suicide bombing attacks and recent riots in Uzbekistan. It remains outlawed across the Middle East.
Sydney Muslim leaders yesterday expressed concerns about Hizb ut-Tahrir, which they described as a provocative fringe group not aligned to any of the larger Islamic organisations. One, who did not wish to be named, said: "They are opposed to integration, even with other Muslim groups. For these reasons, they're treated with disdain and have been asked to stop what they are doing."
Australian National University's director of terrorism studies, Clive Williams, said: "Hizb ut-Tahrir is an organisation promoting the desirability of a return to a fundamental period of Islam. There's no hard evidence of it advocating violence but there has been considerable cause for concern in the UK and other countries following reports of threats, links to bombings and the peddling of racism. To find out that a local chapter existed would not be desirable."
- With Kerry-Anne Walsh

http://www.theage.com.au/news/war-on-terror/radicals-recruiting-outside-sydneys-mosques/2005/07/23/1121539189118.html