HARDLINE Muslim spiritual leaders who preach the fundamentalist Salafi brand of Islam espoused by Osama bin Laden have become the latest recruits in combating global terrorism.Has it occurred to anyone perhaps these cats are maybe involved in a power struggle, they know bin Laden is either dead or soon on his way out and would like to assume more leadership?
Australian security agencies have been urged by former Scotland Yard counter-terrorism expert Robert Lambert to enlist key Salafi leaders - who are widely perceived to be part of the radicalisation problem - to help prevent young Muslims from embracing al-Qa'ida's ideology.
Mr Lambert, co-founder of Scotland Yard's Muslim Contact Unit, said Salafi spiritual leaders, who follow a puritanical interpretation of the Koran and are often accused of being proponents of terrorism, had a vested interest in discrediting al-Qa'ida because the network had hijacked and distorted their true beliefs.
"As far as they're concerned, al-Qa'ida distorts the Salafi view of the world," Mr Lambert told The Australian during an interview in London. Australian Salafi leaders yesterday backed the idea of imams working with the authorities to prevent young Muslims from becoming radicalised, but they admitted it would be difficult for them to trust the counter-terrorism agencies.
Seriously, it's completely insane to even think of enlisting hardline extremists to combat terrorism. The notion of it is absurd.
The Howard government refused to involve Salafi clerics - such as the director of the fundamentalist Ahlus Sunnah Wal Jammah organisation, Mohammed Omran - when it set up the Muslim Community Reference Group following the 2005 London bombings.Sure, bin Laden is a good man, and we'd love to help you folks out!
Sheik Omran, who has praised Osama bin Laden as a "good man", has expressed his willingness to work with the security agencies, and rejected accusations that he or his organisation were proponents of terrorism.
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