DAR AL HARB - AUSTRALIA: HIZB-UT-TAHRIR, TO BAN OR NOT TO BAN, THAT IS THE QUESTION

Governments row over radical cleric

A radical Indonesian cleric who has called on Australian Muslims to prepare for jihad was invited to Canberra to speak at a security conference by the Federal Government three years ago.

Ismail Yusanto, the chairman of the Indonesian arm of Hizb ut-Tahrir, sparked outrage yesterday by telling a crowd of about 500 Muslims at Lakemba, in Sydney's south-west, that all military-aged Muslims should prepare for war.

It has been revealed that Dr Yusanto had previously been invited to speak at a conference sponsored by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) in August 2004.

The conference, run by think-tank the Council for Security Cooperation in the Asia Pacific, was opened by Foreign Minister Alexander Downer.

Dr Yusanto is also understood to be a regular guest at the Australian embassy in Jakarta.

A paper reviewing the 2004 conference says Dr Yusanto took part in an "enlightening discussion" on the issue of the creation of an Islamic state.

Hizb ut-Tahrir, which says it is non-violent, aims to create an Islamic superstate and is banned in a large number of countries.

The group is now at the centre of a row between the state and federal governments, with NSW Premier Morris Iemma calling on Canberra to outlaw the group.

Prime Minister John Howard and Attorney-General Philip Ruddock have refused to outlaw Hizb ut-Tahrir.

NSW Premier Morris Iemma today stepped up his demands for the federal government to outlaw the group, saying its leaders were quite plainly advocating a holy war with Australia.

But the Commonwealth insists it can't use tough anti-terror laws to slap a ban on Hizb ut-Tahrir, and says NSW has the ability to outlaw the group itself if it wants.

Mr Howard said the Federal Government would not ban Hizb ut-Tahrir unless it breached anti-terror laws.

"There is often a thin line between stupid extravagant language and language which is deliberately designed to incite violence ... or to threaten the security of the country," he told Southern Cross Broadcasting.

"People can say a lot of ridiculous things and they should be able to say ridiculous things in a democracy without that language constituting violence and extreme incitement to violence."

Mr Ruddock said if the NSW government wanted to outlaw the group because it did not approve of its views, it could do so.

"If the state government believes it should be banned as an organisation simply because they don't like their views, I would suggest they've got power to do it," he told reporters.

"Or if they think that you need to have a national scheme for banning organisations of that type whose views you don't like, refer a power along with your state Labor colleagues to enable us to do it."

Mr Iemma said NSW was unable to ban the group because it, along with the other states, referred powers to exclude terror groups to the Commonwealth in 2002.

"What's Mr Ruddock's problem in reviewing the status of this organisation?" he told reporters.

"If he wants evidence, listen to what was said.

"They're advocating war with Australia, on Australians."

Hizb ut-Tahrir spokesman Wassim Doureihi today told the Nine Network his group's efforts were not directed at Australia, or its domestic politics.

"The purpose of the conference was to highlight the political reality that currently exists in the Muslim world," he said.

Countries such as Iraq and Somalia which are subject to the tyranny and oppression of occupiers are the group's focus, Mr Doureihi said.

He said the wishful call for an Islamic state ruled by Sharia law, and defended by jihad, is a self-defence reaction to the current occupation of Muslim countries by the west.

"I don't think we should be concerned about the preparation for (a state's) self-defence against foreign aggression," he said.

"We should be concerned, as we should be concerned about Iraq, about the foreign military aggression."

However, Western Australia's Attorney-General Jim McGinty backed Mr Iemma's call, accusing Hizb ut-Tahrir of "threatening the very fabric of our community".

Federal opposition immigration spokesman Tony Burke said Dr Yusanto should have been refused a visa because his radical views could incite conflict in Australia.

"Why on earth this bloke was given permission to come to Australia is a complete mystery to me," Mr Burke told Macquarie Radio today.

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What was said by Dr. Yusanto and others at the meeting of Hizb-ut-Tahrir?!?

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"If two people are united and a third person comes along and tries to incite disunity . . . kill him," Palestinian Sheik Issam Amera yesterday told a Sydney meeting.

"Muslims are not unique in doing so as most nations kill those charged with treason."

The establishment for Caliphate (Islamic superstate) is an Islamic duty. The evidence for the duty for establishing (the) Caliphate is confirmed in the Koran."

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At yesterday's meeting, controversial Indonesian cleric Ismail Yusanto called for all Muslims to help build and defend sharia law, the absolute form of Islam, across the world – and to prepare for war against Western powers.

"Sacrifice must be encouraged," he said.

"If the capital (of the new Islamic state) fell and was occupied by the invading forces the rest (of the Caliphate) must be involved in an all-out war against the occupiers.

"Call for all military-aged Muslims to obtain military training and prepare for jihad."

"There is no victory and glory without hard work and sacrifice – no pain, no gain."

The meeting was organised by the Australian arm of the extremist group Hizb ut-Tahrir, a group widely known for its anti-democratic, anti-Semitic views.

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Pertinent Links:

1) Governments row over radical cleric

2) Be Prepared for Jihad

3) Muslim conference discusses Islamic super state