Canberra: Prime Minister John Howard reassured Australia's Muslims on Wednesday that they were not the target of planned tough new anti-terrorism laws after police arrested 17 men on charges of planning terrorist attacks.
Muslims and civil liberties groups said the arrests in Melbourne and Sydney on Tuesday, which police said had disrupted a plot for a 'catastrophic' attack, proved that the country's current laws were adequate.
The Australian media described the arrested men as 'Osama's Aussie offspring' after police said their spiritual leader is a Muslim firebrand who described Osama bin Laden as a 'great man'.
Howard moved to allay the fears of the Muslim community as parliament prepared to debate the government's new anti-terrorism laws, which followed a review after the July 7 London bombings.
"People who support terrorism are as much their enemies as they are my or your enemies. There is nothing in our laws, nor will there be anything in our laws, that targets an individual group, be it Islamic or otherwise," Howard said.
The new anti-terrorism measures include allowing police to detain suspects for seven days without charge and using electronic tracking devices to keep tabs on them.
Comments
0 comment