Canberra vetoes mosque

Islamic leaders are demanding an explanation from Foreign Minister Alexander Downer after plans for the Saudi Government to invest in the construction of an Adelaide mosque were vetoed by Canberra. The Foreign Minister revealed yesterday that the Government objected to a proposal for Saudi cash to be injected into development of the new mosque, which is believed to be located at Park Holme in Adelaide's southern suburbs.

Mr Downer said federal authorities had also been investigating broad concerns on funding sourced from the Middle East after concerns that mosques could become breeding grounds for extremists. "Obviously we don't want to see any extremist organisation penetrate into Australia," he said.

But Ali Vachor, secretary of the Islamic Society of South Australia, which manages the Park Holme mosque, told The Australian the decision had halted construction of the building. Mr Vachor said a "great portion" of funding for the development was being sourced from overseas and had not been approved. "What was required from the overseas party for them to send the money was permission from the Government, the concerned Government to sign a piece of paper," Mr Vachor said.

Construction was halted after the laying of a concrete slab and prayers are being conducted in a recreation room. Mr Vachor said yesterday the Islamic Society of South Australia would seek an urgent meeting with Mr Downer to determine the reasons behind the Government's decision. The mosque is the same holy place used by Iraqi Kurd Warya Kanie, who came to Australia as a refugee in 2003 and was granted citizenship two years later. Mr Vachor said Mr Kanie, being held by coalition forces in Iraq, regularly attended the Park Holme mosque. Mr Kanie, 39, told his family in Adelaide that he was going to look for a wife, but he allegedly told a friend that he was leaving Australia "to go on jihad". Mr Kanie was captured by coalition forces in Baghdad in mid-October. He has since been held as a security detainee for allegedly engaging in anti-coalition activities.

"There is a prima facie case apparently, according to the Iraqi authorities and coalition forces there," Mr Downer said. The Foreign Minister said the Government had discussed funding of mosques in Australia with the Saudi Government "in particular". He said: "This is of course a matter that goes back well before 9/11. "There has been concern internationally, not specifically to Australia, about some elements in Saudi Arabia which is the heartland of Wahibbism and Sufism ... trying to spread that particular extremist interpretation of Islam. "Historically the Saudi Arabian Government has provided funding (to overseas mosques), I'm not saying there's anything illegitimate about that ... but we can obviously express a view to the Saudi Arabian Government." Mr Downer said Mr Kanie and the Park Holme mosque's funding were "not related" to the best of his knowledge.

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MUSLIM ULTRAS IN AUSTRALIA

An ultra-radical Muslim group banned in many countries will promote support for an Islamic superstate in a seminar in Australia this month. Christian critics claim that the seminar, to be conducted by the group Hizb ut-Tahrir, will be a recruiting ground for extremists. Hizb ut-Tahrir believes that the caliphate - a part of the world under Muslim rule that, at its peak, ran from Spain to Iran and beyond - is about to be re-established.

Hizb ut-Tahrir is banned in Britain, Germany, the Netherlands, Russia and most Muslim countries in the Middle East because of alleged links to terrorism, including the bombers behind the 2005 London attacks. It is not banned in Australia but is controversial because it opposes democracy and Muslim integration, has tried to recruit young Muslims and ran a lecture last year titled "Israel is an illegal state that Muslims will never accept".

A promotional video for the January 27 Sydney conference on the internet site YouTube.com claims the world was "plunged into darkness" on March 3, 1924, the date when Turkish leader Kemal Ataturk ended the Ottoman caliphate. "The consequences were unimaginable: death, destruction, chaos, exploitation. After 80 years of the absence of the khilafate (caliphate) the Muslim world has awakened from its slumber, and the umma (the community of all the world's Muslims) is ready to resume its political destiny," the video says. "From the darkness will emerge a new light."

Some observers have expressed fears that the conference will be used to radicalise Muslims in Australia and recruit extremists. A spokesman for federal Attorney-General Philip Ruddock said group members would have to be careful about what they said at the conference and remember that Australia was a harmonious society.

Melbourne Anglican minister Mark Durie, author of a book comparing Islam and Christianity, said in a widely distributed email: "If we wake up in 10 years' time and wonder what went wrong, historians who are able to look back and analyse the rise of radical Islam in Australia will identify events such as this conference as part of the answer." Dr Durie said yesterday Hizb ut-Tahrir was a major world force for radical political Islam, with links to terrorist groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood, and had strategies for Australia. He said the purpose of the conference was to "inspire and mobilise Muslims to establish Islamic government in the medieval model of sharia law with no concession to other principles such as democracy or human rights". "They want to legitimise the caliphate as a political aspiration."

Hizb ut-Tahrir spokesman Wassim Doureihi said the purpose was to highlight the reality of political struggle in the Muslim world and the obligations of Muslims in Australia to raise these issues, and to raise awareness of the caliphate. "The caliphate is a political reality. It's imminent. There is a burgeoning Islamic revival, and it's only a matter of time before the caliphate is a state," he said. Asked if he wanted sharia in Australia, Mr Doureihi said yes, by peaceful means. "Islam is universal. The caliphate would be a role model for the rest of the world." Mr Doureihi said Hizb ut-Tahrir sought to win hearts and minds but denied that the group in Australia was shadowy or extremist, saying non-Muslims were welcome at the conference. He said the conference was a forum to discuss concerns and misconceptions and there was nothing extremist about noting the Muslim world's plight or advocating peaceful change.

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DANGEROUSLY INCOMPETENT MEDICAL BUREAUCRACY

Queensland doctors say lives could be put at risk because hospital care throughout the state is being compromised by management problems. Patients in the north Queensland city of Townsville have this week been left with no public hospital staff to provide elective cardiac surgery, because three surgeons are on holiday and two registrars are on unspecified sick leave. All open-heart surgery at Townsville Hospital has been postponed and patients needing immediate surgery were being referred to Brisbane. A management meeting is being held at the hospital today to find a solution to the surgery problem.

The Townsville Bulletin reported the problem stemmed from a dispute between two doctors working at the hospital. But Australian Medical Association Queensland President Zelle Hodge said the situation was symptomatic of a wider problem. "We do know in other areas of care that there is a possibility that the service will be compromised because of the lack of ability to address some of the issues at a management level," Dr Hodge said. "All that happens is if you shut down one service you are putting extra demands on another service and we already know we have huge waiting lists throughout Queensland. "And in areas like cardiac surgery ... it compromises the ability of Queensland Health to offer good patient care."

She said she knew of at least two other regional hospitals, which she did not name, where there were ongoing management problems. "This is of grave concern because it just means that although we've had a lot of rhetoric from Queensland Health about their desire, at the upper echelons, to change the system our clinicians at the coalface are telling us they are not seeing the appropriate change," she said.

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Global cooling hits Australia's hottest town

As the rest of Australia sweltered through its 11th-warmest year on record, one famously hot town set a new mark for its coldest year. Maximum temperatures in the northwest West Australian town of Marble Bar came inalmost 3C below average lastyear. In its world-beating heatwave, from October 31, 1923, to April 7, 1924, the maximum temperature never dropped below 100 degrees Fahrenheit (37.8C). That record still stands. But last year, Marble Bar recorded an average maximum of 32.5C, well below its long-term annual norm of 35.3C.

The mining town made its mark while the rest of the country recorded an average temperature 0.47C above the 1961-1990 norm. Marble Bar's previous coolest year, in 92 years of records, was 1978 (33.5C). Perth meteorologist Glenn Cook said clouds, rain and cyclones in Marble Bar's hottest months had kept a lid on temperatures. Mr Cook said the town received falls of about 50mm in September, 30mm in October, 15mm in November and 10mm last month, a period when it normally had a total of 10mm. It registered 448mm in the rain gauge last year, well above the normal annual total of 311mm.

Len Lever, a Marble Bar resident for 37 years, said last winter felt cooler but summer was as hot as usual. Mr Lever, 69, said ex-cyclone Isobel brought only 3mm of rain. "It's nice now. It's cooled the country down for a while."

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