DAR AL HARB - AUSTRALIA: SALARIES PAID TO IMAMS BY SAUDI ARABIA SHOULD BE STOPPED BY THE AUSSIE GOVERNMENT

'Block Saudi cash' for imams
by Cameron Stewart

THE Howard Government must pressure Saudi Arabia to stop radicalising Australian imams and funding the spread of hardline Wahabist ideology, a Muslim leader in Canberra has warned.

The head of the Islamic Council of the ACT, Sabrija Poskovic, called on Foreign Minister Alexander Downer to halt the Saudi practice of paying the salaries of selected Australian imams.

By funding local imams, the Saudi Government was tacitly encouraging the teaching of a hardline version of Islam, said Mr Poskovic, who has written to Mr Downer about the issue.

"We need to solve this problem now," Mr Poskovic said. "Mr Downer should ask Saudi Arabia to stop interfering in the Islamic community - do not let them pay the imams' wages."

His comments follow revelations in The Australian yesterday that the flow of funds from Saudi Arabia to the Islamic community here has been dramatically reduced by a crackdown led by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and ASIO, in conjunction with the Saudi Government.

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