Hear a pin drop

passport -humour

Fear 'keeping Muslims silent' on terrorism
By Richard Kerbaj
May 28, 2007 02:00am

MUSLIMS are refusing to give national security authorities counter-terrorism tip-offs, fearing they may implicate themselves or be labelled traitors by fellow community members.

Muslim leaders yesterday warned the Howard Government's hard line on Islamic extremists was largely to blame for the failure of agencies, such as ASIO and the Australian Federal Police, to attract Arabic and Islamic recruits.

Community sources have told The Australian that the AFP and ASIO were desperately reaching out to senior Islamic leaders to help find recruits.

Intelligence sources also said negative attitudes held by Muslims towards national security agencies were hampering attempts to attract recruits.

Sydney-based Muslim leader Fadi Rahman said there was a lack of trust in national security agencies, stopping people from offering sensitive information and considering counter-terrorism careers.

"At the moment they (ASIO) are marketed as an organisation that if (any Muslim) was to go near it you're basically going to get arrested," the Independent Centre for Research Australia president said.

A founding member of the Muslim Doctors Against Violence, Jamal Rifi, said police and spy agencies were often perceived to be anti-Islam. He said Muslims who dealt with the authorities were considered "traitors" and "non-believers".

Read the rest:
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,21803426-2,00.html