Mosque attacked in Brisbane

By Amit Baruah

SINGAPORE, SEPT. 22. A mosque was damaged in Brisbane in an attack which is being linked to ``anger'' at the September 11 terrorist attacks in the United States. Today's attack is the second on a mosque in Australia since the terrorist strikes in New York and Washington. The Muslim community in Queensland State has called for increased police protection following the attacks on the mosques. There have been other reports of a bus ferrying Muslim students becoming a target for stone-throwers in the wake of the U.S. attacks.

``It has heightened the concern of the community in all respects,'' Mr. Amjad Mehboob, chief executive of the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils, was quoted as saying. ``We are doing what we can, within our resources to provide security....but we would appreciate any assistance Governments can provide. ``We are talking about a few mosques. It's not hundreds and hundreds,'' Mr. Mehboob added.

In a related development, the Australian Prime Minister, Mr. John Howard, said he condemned the attack if it was vandalism or vilification. ``We must not allow our natural anger at the extremes of Islam, which have been manifested in the attack on the World Trade Center...to spill over to Muslims generally,'' the Prime Minister said. ``Hundreds of Islamic people died in the World Trade Center and that is a fact people should bear in mind. Barbarism has no ethnicity,'' Mr. Howard was quoted as saying.

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Section  : International
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