Australian Prime Minister John Howard has condemned alleged comments made by the spiritual leader of Australia’s Islamic community which called for holy war against the West. Reports from media outlets and a Middle East think tank quote comments made by Sheik Taj El Din Al Hilaly, 62, during a trip this month to Lebanon, which included support for “jihad” and praise for suicide bombers. Mr Howard told parliament in Canberra on Thursday the comments, if found to be substantially true, should be “condemned in the strongest possible terms”. Hilaly is reported to have told interviewers in Lebanon he was proud of Islamic resistance movements in the Palestinian territories, Lebanon and the disputed region of Kashmir, and condoned “martyrdom operations” — which typically refers to suicide bombings. “We support the resistance and support, with all our might, the martyrdom operations carried out by the Palestinian liberation movements, operations that are a legitimate act against the cruel occupation, according to all international norms and conventions,” Hilaly was reported to have said. Full Story
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