Islamic heads reject calls for holy war against US
ELBOURNE: A senior representative of Australia's 120,000 Muslims said Wednesday they would not take up Osama bin Laden's "call to arms" against the United States and its allies.
But Islamic leaders condemned Australia's commitment to the war on terrorism, saying it would not eradicate the cause of terrorist attacks and would simply kill more innocent people.
The government has offered commandoes, aircraft and navy ships to the US-led war on terrorism.
Suspected terrorist mastermind bin Laden and his organization, Al-Qaeda, have urged Muslims across the world to join a holy war against the United States and its allies following the air strikes on Afghanistan.
But Islamic Council of Victoria president Yasser Soliman said Australian Muslims would not heed the call.
"There is no rise to arms in response to that," he said. Bin Laden "is not a leader that we can associate with, and the path of terrorism and violence is one that's been condemned in the past, and we condemn now, as a way to resolve any conflict."
Soliman called for a peaceful resolution of the conflict.
"Violence is not a solution. We are against any innocent people being killed from any side," he said.
Australian Arabic Council chairman Roland Jabbour said he did not expect any Australian Muslims to react to bin Laden's statement.
"Terrorism should be rejected in all its forms," he said.
But Jabbour said he was concerned the attacks on Afghanistan were setting a new precedent in dealing with international conflict.
"These attacks will not eradicate terrorism. We have witnessed a reaction that deals with the symptoms of the problem rather than the cause," he said.
Meanwhile, Australian Catholic Bishops' Conference vice president Archbishop John Bathersby called on all Australians to observe Oct. 11 as a day of prayer for terrorist victims and peace.
"We do not want to live a life filled with paranoia, fear, racial hate and vilification - we want justice, peace and freedom for all," he said.
( AP )