Saturday, November 12, 2005
IRAQ NOT AN ISSUE
Muslim cleric Sheikh Mohammed Omran tells Australian television that all local mosques are host to extremists:
TONY JONES: Does it worry you at all that people with extreme views tend to gravitate to you or one of your associated mosques in Sydney and Melbourne?
SHEIKH MOHAMMED OMRAN: This is not true, anyhow. They were everywhere and in every mosque you’ll find people like that.
Hmmm. In the same interview, Sheikh Omran says that the invasion of Iraq isn’t a cause of retaliatory terrorism:
TONY JONES: What sort of injustice are you talking about specifically that could motivate someone in this country to do something so extreme?
SHEIKH MOHAMMED OMRAN: All type, all type of -
TONY JONES: Are you talking about a sense of international injustice about, for example, what is happening in Iraq and Australia’s involvement there?
SHEIKH MOHAMMED OMRAN: No, no, no. First and foremost, we are talking about social injustice and not equal opportunities for everyone. As long as we are all Australians we should be equal in the eyes of the law, in the eyes of the Government. and this is what we are talking about. This is the main thing we are talking about ...
TONY JONES: Alright, let me ask you one last question because we’re nearly out of time. I mean, the Government maintains that if people do have these motivations in Australia, it’s nothing to do with the war in Iraq. It sounds like you agree with them.
SHEIKH MOHAMMED OMRAN: Yes, I agree with them, yes.
According to several readers who saw this interview, an extended pause followed that reply.