Australia braces for Muslim backlash

CANBERRA - Australia is waiting for Muslim reaction to the decision of a well-known political commentator to publish cartoons lampooning the prophet Muhammad on his website.

One of the cartoons, which have sparked international fury and triggered the burning of Danish and Norwegian embassies in Syria and Lebanon, also appeared in a weekend edition of Brisbane's Courier Mail.

But the country's major newspapers and television channels have rejected publication in the wake of violence overseas and warnings at home from a Muslim population already marked by rising tensions.

Australian Federation of Islamic Councils president Dr Ameer Ali said publication of the cartoons would cause great offence and potentially increase radicalism among Muslims.

"In fact, the imams are giving sermons in the mosques saying that this sort of action can only create more Osama bin Ladens than reduce them," he told ABC radio.

Earlier, the general secretary of the Board of Imams of Victoria, Fehmi El-Imam, had given a similar warning that publication could disturb people capable of taking action.

Islamic Council of Queensland president Abdul Jaial said the Courier Mail should apologise for publishing one of the cartoons to illustrate a story about the issue on Saturday.

He said the newspaper should have had more sense, because while Queensland Muslims were unlikely to retaliate, he feared there may be a response from "fanatics" in New South Wales and Victoria.

Yesterday, ex-chief of staff at the Daily Telegraph Tim Blair published on his website all 12 of the cartoons, alongside examples of Islamist attacks on other religions. These included "vicious anti-Semitic" and anti-Christian tracts found at an Islamic bookstore in Lakemba, Sydney.

The examples also included a warning that women deserved to be raped if they wore "Satanic" clothing such as tight jeans and strapless tops.

"All of this is far more hateful than 12 Danish cartoons, not one of which depicts the Prophet eating babies or infecting Africans with Aids (as some Islamic publications claimed against Jews and Christians)," Blair wrote.

"Many Muslim spokesmen seem to be aggressively for [hate speech] - until of course, someone contemplates publishing harmless drawings of an old beardy guy."

Meanwhile in Dubai, a prominent scholar has called on Muslims "to show their fury in a logical and controlled manner", Danish and Norwegian embassies were set on fire. Muslim scholar Sheikh Youssef al-Qaradawi condemned the burning of the embassies in Arab Damascus, Syria, and Beirut, Lebanon.

Qaradawi, based in Qatar, told al-Jazeera that Muslims should boycott goods from countries were the cartoons had been published.

"We didn't ask people to burn embassies as some have done in Damascus and Beirut. We asked people to boycott products ... We don't sanction destruction because this is not in line with Muslim behaviour." Qaradawi also called for a new international law over the cartoons.

"I call on Arab and Islamic Governments to ask the UN to issue a law forbidding insults to all religions."

Thousands of angry Muslim protesters set fire to the Danish consulate in Beirut at the weekend, a day after Syrians set fire to the Danish and Norwegian embassies in Damascus, damaged the Swedish embassy and tried to storm the French mission.

Qaradawi, an outspoken Egyptian Sunni Muslim cleric who frequently appears on a weekly religious programme on al-Jazeera, said "freedom [came] with responsibilities - only God has absolute freedom"

Denmark called on Arab leaders to help curb an escalation of anger over publication of the cartoons, as hundreds of Danes gathered in Copenhagen to show their concern.

Foreign Minister Per Stig Moeller called for a dialogue which "allows us to strengthen our insight and understanding of each other".

"We have nothing to win from this confrontation. We all have a lot to lose because now it is in the hands of the extremists and fanatics, who do not want the dialogue of cultures and the co-operation between Western and Muslim Governments," Moeller said.

The Beirut riot led to Lebanon's Interior Minister Hassan al-Sabaa resigning in an emergency meeting.

The protesters, waving green Islamic flags and chanting "God is greatest", stoned a church in the eastern part of Beirut, provoking an angry Christian outcry.

About 20,000 protesters marched on the consulate, some carrying banners that read "Whoever insults Prophet Muhammad is to be killed" and threw stones at security forces, who retaliated with tear gas and water cannons.

One demonstrator, among those who set the consulate building on fire, was encircled by flames and died after jumping from the third floor, a senior security official said.

Protesters attacked three fire engines to stop them from extinguishing the blaze and hung up a banner at the building's entrance reading: "We are ready to sacrifice our children for you, O Prophet Muhammad."

Security forces arrested 174 protesters: 76 Syrians, 38 Lebanese, 35 Palestinians and 25 stateless Bedouins, a police official said.

The Danish mission's staff left Lebanon at the weekend because they were expecting the protest, a senior security official said. The building also houses the Austrian consulate.

Denmark's Foreign Ministry has urged all Danes to leave Lebanon and warned its citizens not to travel there.

"Danes should remain indoors until they have figured out a means of leaving," it said. "The situation in Beirut is not under control."

Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora said the attack had "nothing to do with Islam at all" in an interview with a private television station.

"Destabilising security and vandalism gives a wrong image of Islam," he said. "The Prophet Muhammad cannot be defended this way."additional reporting from

- REUTERS, AAP