Hardline cleric says he meets ASIO regularly By Marian Wilkinson, Andrew Clennell and Anne Davies July 27, 2005 Sydney Morning Herald Sheik Mohammed Omran, the radical Melbourne cleric under attack from the Prime Minister, John Howard, and the Premier, Bob Carr, says he is still having regular meetings with the Victorian head of ASIO. "We meet once a month, sometimes [every] two weeks, and if there are difficulties we need to meet once a week," Sheik Omran told the Herald. While he served the ASIO chief coffee, he said the meetings were official, not social. Sheik Omran believed there was no current threat "to Australia from inside Australia" but added, "I pray that I am right." He said if there was a threat it stemmed from Australia's relationship with the United States. But Sheik Omran held to his controversial view that Osama bin Laden was not entirely responsible for the September 11, 2001 attacks, saying he still believed he had what he called "inside help". Sheik Omran's latest comments came as Islamic figures called on their clerics and community leaders to condemn terrorism and extremism. Mr Carr is being asked to consider appointing an Islamic Arabic adviser in his office and to hold a summit of Islamic representatives before a meeting on Thursday with the state's Islamic leaders. Representatives from the Lebanese Muslims Association, the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils, the Islamic Friendship Association, the Australian Ahl-Al-Bait Islamic Centre, a group which represents Iraqi Shiites, and the Islamic Council of NSW are among those understood to have been invited to the one-hour meeting with the Premier. The former Community Relations Commissioner, Belmore GP Jamal Rifi, said he had presented a submission to the Premier's office calling for steps to help relations between Muslims and non-Muslims. "We need to encourage government agencies to view the Islamic community members as a first line of defence rather than a potential terror threat," he said. Mr Rifi said that all Islamic religious leaders and activists could be gathered to debate issues facing Muslims in NSW in parliamentary style and the meeting would hopefully result in an "unequivocal denunciation of all acts of terror". As Muslim leaders expressed concern about public reaction, 2GB talkback host Ray Hadley attacked the chief executive of the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils, Amjad Mehboob, for his view reported in yesterday's Herald that callers had said Muslims should be sent packing from the country and mosques closed town. Hadley said he had not heard any caller express these views. "Every time this is up for debate, this type of radio, talkback radio, gets unjustly blamed when in fact we are not the perpetrators of what you're portraying today in the Sydney Morning Herald," Hadley said. But Mr Mehboob said while callers might have not used his exact words, "What I said was the sentiments to that effect were being expressed by very many on the radio, by very many people." The Premier's meeting, which will be held at Governor Macquarie Tower, will be attended by up to 40 Muslim leaders. Islamic Friendship of Australia spokesman Keysar Trad said he hoped to urge Mr Carr to help him change the terminology concerning the terrorist threat. "We need to stop reinforcing the idea they are Islamic," Mr Trad said. "We have to stop referring to them as Islamic and just say 'murderers'." The Islamic Council of NSW said it would be putting the view strongly to the Premier that Muslims shared many of the concerns of the broader public, including worries about security. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? 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