Clerics ′teach secret jihad′

ISLAMIC clerics in Sydney and Melbourne are using covert tactics to preach martyrdom and jihad to young followers, recruiting them under the guise of classes teaching the Koran.

Singapore-based terrorism analyst Rohan Gunaratna told The Australian that despite their denials and stronger terror laws, religious leaders in the two cities continued to preach violence to impressionable followers, though they now did it away from their mainstream teachings. He said the clerics' influence on young believers increased the risk of a terrorist attack in Australia. "We have seen a number of Australian clerics preaching jihad and martyrdom," Dr Gunaratna said.

"The most likely form of attack in Australia is a suicide attack for jihad. You will need to make arrests in time."

Clive Williams, who runs a terrorism and counter-terrorism program at the Australian Defence Force Academy, said young Muslims were being recruited for jihad through "Koran classes". "They are doing it differently now," he said.

Sheik Omran said terrorism experts made their living from the counter-terrorism industry and it was in their interests to keep the threat going.

Muslim Community Service of Western Australia chairman Sheik Mahmoud Omran said if anybody had evidence they should put up or shut up.

The claims came as the inaugural Conference of Australian Imams wound up in Sydney yesterday. About 100 Muslim leaders attended the two-day conference, which was hosted by the federal Government's Muslim Reference Group.

Parliamentary Secretary on Immigration and Multicultural Affairs Andrew Robb told the conference that imams could play a significant role in minimising the opportunities for extremists to influence vulnerable youth, by speaking English.

"It seems to me that they must be preaching in English if the young people in their communities can understand Islam in an Australian context," he said.

A communique issued at the end of the conference said the imams condemned all forms of terrorism, hatred and extremism in the past and would continue to do so.

It was also agreed that religious leaders should have effective communication skills, including tuition in English with the aim of having sermons delivered entirely in English.

They called for religious leaders to get a broader knowledge of Australian society, culture, the legal system and politics and for the training of a new generation of Australian-born imams.

The group also revealed plans to establish a national centre for excellence in Islamic studies that would be open both to Muslim and non-Muslim students, and a national board of the Islamic religion and community to deal with religious issues that could represent the communities at a national level.