Grand Mufti Professor Ibrahim Abu Mohamed defends Muslim community's handling of radical fighters, flags concerns over anti-terror laws

Updated

The spiritual leader of Australia's Muslims has defended his community's handling of radical fighters, saying the problem would have been far worse without the efforts of local imams.

The Grand Mufti Professor Ibrahim Abu Mohamed has condemned the images emanating from the battlefronts in Iraq and Syria as despicable, and says convicted Australian terrorist Khaled Sharrouf must be brought to justice.

Professor Abu Mohamed said he has been shocked by the photo of a young boy carrying a severed head.

"If these photos are genuinely attributed to him, he should be prosecuted," Professor Abu Mohamed told Lateline through a translator.

ASIO says there are 150 known Australian radicals, including 60 people who have been or are involved in overseas fighting.

But the Grand Mufti says the number could have been far greater if the Muslim community had not acted.

"If it wasn't for our effort, there could have been 1500, not 150," he said.

"These people should be re-educated. We have methods that work on the correction of their ideas. We try to cure them.

"Our educators are young men who are native speakers, who are born here and who are specialised in this field."

Last week, the Grand Mufti and the Australian National Imams Council staged a protest over the Government's new anti-terror measures by not attending the annual Federal Police dinner marking the Eid religious festival.

If we do (ban them), we are transforming them from possible terrorists to genuine terrorists. We should absorb them, rehabilitate them, re-educate them. The Grand Mufti Professor Ibrahim Abu Mohamed

Professor Abu Mohamed says there has not been enough consultation with the community.

He says he is particularly concerned about the effect of the laws on individual liberties, including plans to make it illegal to travel to a designated terror hotspot without a valid reason.

"People have the right to move freely to anywhere they choose," he said.

"People are not required to justify why they have travelled to a specific place or who they met. These laws will breach privacy.

"We are not talking about terrorism now, we are talking about human rights."

He says radical Australians should not be banned from returning home, but re-educated.

"If we do (ban them), we are transforming them from possible terrorists to genuine terrorists. We should absorb them, rehabilitate them, re-educate them," he said.

"We should not deny them entry as they will regroup elsewhere. If that happens, we are not fighting terrorism but shifting it to another place."

He has also called for a review of foreign incursion laws which make it illegal to fight for a rebel group but not a foreign government.

The Grand Mufti plans to take his concerns directly to Attorney-General George Brandis at a meeting later this month.

Topics: security-intelligence, terrorism, federal-government, defence-and-national-security, islam, australia, iraq

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