Australia's firebrand cleric does it again

Taj Aldin Alhilali

CANBERRA - Australia's firebrand Muslim cleric, already causing outrage over his comments on women, has lent his support to militants fighting Australian troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Sheik Taj Aldin Alhilali, under pressure to step down as Mufti of Australia because his view that women who dressed immodestly invited rape, praised Islamic insurgents in Palestine, Iraq and Afghanistan during an interview on Arabic radio.

His comments, reported in the Australian yesterday, could breach new anti-terrorism laws that outlaw the inciting of violence against Australian troops abroad. Some are serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"I haven't sought advice on that [but] I imagine at some point there will be views expressed about that or advice given," Prime Minister John Howard told Southern Cross radio.

He said it was an offence to incite people to hurt Australian troops but not to simply express a view.

Yesterday afternoon, ahead of a Lebanese Muslim Association board meeting to decide the future of his position, Sheik Alhilali collapsed and was taken to a Sydney hospital with chest pains.

In a statement from hospital last night, the cleric described women as "cherished pearls" and said rape was abominable as he tried to explain the comments which have engulfed him in controversy, AAP reported.

Last week, Sheik Alhilali was reported as saying in a sermon that women were tools of Satan, responsible for adultery, and - likening them to meat - those who dressed immodestly were responsible for their own fate.

Last night, while he expressed some contrition to the women of Australia, he attacked the "dubious media" and "devious groups" which he says had slandered him.

He said the comments were made in a private lesson at Lakemba mosque during Ramadan and were not meant for the general public "and particularly not the general women of our Australian society".

But his future remains uncertain as pressure mounts for his resignation.

AAP reported that Opposition Leader Kim Beazley had said the sheik "should go", and Queensland Liberal MP Warren Entsch had called for him to be stripped of permanent residency and kicked out of the country.

Jamal Rifi, a friend of Sheik Alhilali, told ABC radio he had written an open letter to the cleric urging him to step down because of the difficult situation in which he had placed Muslims in Australia.

"He described [the furore over his comments] as a storm in a cup, while I and many of my community see it as a category-five cyclone."

Another friend, Keyser Trad, said Sheik Alhilali would not step aside. His comments had been misinterpreted and used by political foes to settle old scores.

But his position is under even greater threat now because of his support for violence against Australian and other troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In the interview, on Arabic radio two weeks ago, the sheik said he was opposed to terror attacks in Madrid, London and New York but strongly endorsed fighters in the Palestinian territories, Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Australian also reported that Sheik Alhilali paid tribute to Sayyid Qutb, the ideologue of the Muslim Brotherhood and intellectual mentor of Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda.