 Melbourne-based Muslim cleric Sheikh Mohammed Omran says Prime Minister John Howard has taken his comments out of context. Mr Howard has repeatedly condemned the cleric for saying that Osama bin Laden is a good man. But Sheikh Omran has told the ABC's Lateline he only praised bin Laden because, he says, the Al Qaeda leader used his wealth to help the poor in Afghanistan.
The imam says that if bin Laden has accepted responsibility for terrorist attacks, he must be condemned. "Doesn't matter who did it, we don't accept it," Sheikh Omran said.
| "Can we drop the subject now?" |
"If Osama bin Laden did it, we are the first ones to condemn the action, the person or the persons behind that action, and this is where the misunderstanding [is] here." He says Mr Howard has taken his comments out of context. "The Prime Minister, in particular, take it as I am talking of Osama bin Laden, the man who did September 11, the man behind so many atrocities or bad actions," he said.
| "I'm talking about... ummm... somebody else." |
"Of course I won't accept, or I won't support 1 per cent a man who did something like that." The Prime Minister says he agrees with the Sheikh Omran that only God does not make mistakes. Mr Howard has repeatedly condemned the Sheikh for his previous remarks and says it is important that everyone with an Islamic background or belief fight extremism. "You are part of the community like everybody else," Mr Howard said.
| "You're the part that spews spittle and rolls your eyes. The rest of us drink beer and go to the beach." |
"We all together have a responsibility to argue against and reject extremism and there is a particular responsibility on the part of people of influence within individual communities." |