DAR AL HARB - AUSTRALIA: AUSTRALIA'S NEW MUFTI DOES NOT BELIEVE THAT USAMA BIN LADEN IS RESPONSIBLE FOR 9-11, DESPITE U.B.L.'S CONFESSIONS

Mufti doubts bin Laden role
by Mark Dunn

AUSTRALIA'S new mufti, Sheik Fehmi Naji el-Imam, won't accept that Osama bin Laden was responsible for the September 11 attacks on the United States.

In his first day in the job, the cleric stuck by his long-standing view that questions whether bin Laden was behind the 2001 attacks.

"What evidence?" he said when asked if he now accepted bin Laden's role in the atrocity.

Two years ago, when asked the same question, he said: "How would I know? He's unable to be found."

His stance flies in the face of bin Laden's own confession, aired in a December 2001 video.
In it bin Laden is seen using his hands to recreate the attacks.

He gloats: "We calculated in advance the number of casualties from the enemy who would be killed on the position of the tower."

In another taped statement released in 2004, bin Laden acknowledged his direct link to the attacks, saying: "We had to destroy the towers in America so that they taste what we tasted and they stop killing our women and children.

"We agreed with the leader of the group, (hijacker) Mohammed Atta, to perform all attacks within 20 minutes before (President George W.) Bush and his administration were aware of what was going on."

In a third video in 2006, he is pictured with accused plotter Ramzi Binalshibh, while two hijackers who died in the attacks, Hamza al-Ghamdi and Wail al-Shehri appear in different segments of the video.

A 2004 report by the US 9/11 Commission found conclusively that al-Qaida was behind the attack on New York and Washington, which "was driven by Osama bin Laden".

Sheik Fehmi is widely respected as a moderate Islamic leader who has often spoken out against terrorism.

He is secretary of the Victorian Board of Imams, leads the Preston mosque -- one of Victoria's largest -- and was a member of the Prime Minister's Muslim Community Reference Group.

Pressed on his reluctance to believe bin Laden was behind the attacks, Sheik Fehmi yesterday said there was a difference between being told there was evidence of bin Laden's guilt and seeing the evidence for yourself.

His spokesman said Sheik Fehmi, who suffered a stroke last year, was too tired to be further questioned on the bin Laden subject but would speak further on such issues later in the week.

Sheik Fehmi replaced controversial Sheik Taj el-Din al-Hilaly as Australia's most senior Islamic leader at the weekend after a series of meetings that led to Sheik Hilaly agreeing to step down.

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Pertinent Links:

1) Mufti doubts bin Laden role