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Muslim leader backs Howard anti-terror meeting
The head of the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils Ameer Ali says he is happy to meet Prime Minister John Howard to discuss the threat of terrorism.Mr Howard wants to meet Australia's Muslim leaders within the next few weeks to enlist their help in the fight against terrorism. He says British authorities may have been able to warn of the attacks if they had better information from those closest to the bombers. "Their communities must have known something of it," he told the ABC's Insiders program. He says the meeting will be held before a summit of state and territory leaders on Australia's response to the London bombings. Dr Ali says Muslim leaders have been keen to meet with Mr Howard for some time to discuss how they can help prevent terrorism activity in Australia. "I don't know what he has in mind. We don't know the details of what he wants to talk to us, but nobody is trying to sabotage him," he said. "Nobody wants to undermine his authority. We want to assist him but let us discuss how we can help him." Mr Howard says there was a failure of intelligence ahead of the London bombings. He says that preventing the same happening here requires a two pronged approach. "We have to try and get inside the communities where these potentially hostile groups may be and we need the help of these communities," he said. The Federal Opposition leader has welcomed the idea but says the Government needs to show more leadership in the form of practical measures such as more sniffer dogs, better screening at ports and more security at airports. Dr Ali says all levels of government could gain by meeting with the community. "Having a good relationship with the community, it's what has the government lose," he said. "In fact it should be done not just at the Commonwealth level but at the state level. "There's nothing to lose for any party by having a constant dialogue with the community." Posted by: God Save The World 2005-08-07 |
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