AUSTRALIA: LONDON BOMBINGS PROMPT CT SUMMITS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 CANBERRA 001423

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR S/CT, EAP/ANP

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/22/2015
TAGS: PTER PGOV PINR AS
SUBJECT: AUSTRALIA: LONDON BOMBINGS PROMPT CT SUMMITS

REF: CANBERRA 1381

Classified By: A/DCM Grace Stettenbauer. Reasons 1.4 (b/d).


1. (U) SUMMARY: The July London bombings have prompted
Australia to conduct a national, government-wide
counterterrorism review to assess Australia's capacity to
respond to a terrorist attack. PM John Howard will meet with
state and territory leaders in late September at a national
counterterrorism summit to discuss proposals for
strengthening security measures. Howard will also meet with
moderate Islamic leaders on August 23 in the lead-up to the
summit to discuss strategies for combating extremism within
Australia's Muslim community (ref A). Islamic leaders and
the media criticized the PM's decision not to invite a more
diverse group of clerics to the meeting, claiming it will
fail if not all views and backgrounds are represented. END
SUMMARY.

GOA COUNTERTERRORISM REVIEW
--------------

2. (C) Spurred by the London bombings, Australian PM John
Howard has launched a major, nation-wide counterterrorism
(CT) initiative. Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet
(PM&C) Senior Adviser for Domestic Security Policy Sarah
Chidgey told us that the PM's initiative had begun with a
whole-of-government assessment of Australia's current CT
posture. Agency heads would follow up by developing specific
proposals to be considered at a national counterterrorism
summit with state and territory leaders at the end of
September, Chidgey explained. Prime Minister Howard will
chair the summit which will likely focus on identity
security, mass transportation security, closed circuit
surveillance media, and the prevention of extremism,
according to PM&C Acting Domestic Security Branch Assistant
Secretary Steve Dreezer. Dreezer noted that the National

SIPDIS
Counterterrorism Committee had met three times since the
London bombings to conduct its own preliminary
counterterrorism reviews.

NATIONAL CT SUMMIT
--------------

3. (U) While in London on the day of the second wave of
attacks (July 21),Howard said in a press conference with
British PM Blair that the GOA would examine the need "to
change and strengthen" its laws against terrorist activity,
or potential terrorist activity, and that Australia would
look at Britain's procedures for best practices to emulate.
"We have 19th century legal responses to potentially 21st
century technological terrorist capacity," he said. Upon his
return to Australia the Prime Minister announced on August 5
that he had written to state and territory premiers and chief
ministers to propose a special meeting of the Council of
Australian Governments (COAG) to consider counterterrorism
law revisions. The PM included in his proposed agenda:
counterterrorism legal frameworks, surface transport
security, identity security, and more effective prevention of
any advocacy of terrorism, including through the engagement
of community and religious leaders, and also through the
enhancement of community understanding of the national
counterterrorism arrangements.

PM TO MEET WITH MUSLIM LEADERS
--------------

4. (C) Chidgey noted that the PM and other GOA officials
would meet with a small number of Australia's key moderate
Islamic leaders on August 23, in the lead up to the national
CT summit, in order to solicit their views on how the
government and the Muslim community could combat extremist
ideologies. On August 18, the PM issued a statement
announcing his intention to meet with fourteen moderate
Islamic leaders in Canberra on August 23. The focus would be
the identification of strategies to promote a commitment to
shared values and enhance social cohesion within the
Australian community. In his press statement, Howard said he
wanted to examine how the Muslim community could help
eliminate extremism and end the promotion of violence in
Australia. The Attorney General, the Minister for
Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs, and the
Junior Minister for Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs are
among the high-ranking GOA officials who will also attend the
meeting. The most prominent Muslim leader at the meeting
will be Dr. Ameer Ali (ref A),President of the Australian
Federation of Islamic Councils (AFIC),after the
self-proclaimed Mufti of Australia, Sheikh Taj Aldin
Alhilali, withdrew from the meeting claiming conflicting
travel plans. (Note: The Mufti played a very public role in
offering to help mediate the release of Australia's first
hostage in Iraq, Douglas Wood. End Note.)

MUSLIM LEADERS AND THE MEDIA CRITICIZE GUEST LIST
-------------- --------------

5. (C) There has been considerable public controversy
regarding the list of Muslim leaders invited to the meeting
with the PM (See para 9). Several journalists and Islamic
leaders criticized the PM for not inviting radical clerics to
the meeting, arguing that their exclusion would only further
radicalize their congregations. Sheikh Alhilali's spokesman,
Keyser Trad, called the summit a "farce," claiming it will be
"a picture of the Prime Minister sitting there with a bunch
of Muslims, smiling and nodding their heads." "None of the
people (invited) have any idea about the root causes of
terrorism," Trad said. The former president of the Islamic
Youth Association, Irfan Yusuf, claimed that many people on
the list were "out of touch" with Muslim youth and it was
that gap that caused some youth to turn to extremism. Gabr
el Elgafi, Chairman of the Supreme Islamic Council of New
South Wales, (wrongly) complained that the invitation list
only included leaders from the states of Victoria and New
South Wales. Chidgey told us, however, that the PM made a
conscious decision not to invite radical clerics to the
meeting in order to keep the discussion constructive. Both
the PM and FM Downer said they did not want to validate or
empower extremist thinking by inviting radical clerics to the
meeting.

GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS CT PROPOSALS
--------------

6. (U) GOA officials have planted proposals in the media
suggesting how Australia might better address the threat of
terrorism. To curb the risk of importing extremist
ideologies, Education Minister Brendan Nelson suggested that
Australia should train its own imams. He expressed a
willingness to deliver government aid to mainstream
Australian universities that establish programs to train
Australian-born imams "who understand and fully respect
Australian values," according to press reports. Australian
Federation of Islamic Councils (AFIC) President, Dr. Ameer
Ali, told us that moderate Muslim leaders had been asking for
years for government help for such a project and welcomed the
initiative. Minister Nelson's staff told us that he sent a
letter on July 27 to AFIC and Australian university Vice
Chancellors proposing the education program. Meetings to
discuss the details of the initiative would likely take place
in late August or September.


7. (U) The GOA may also consider deporting and, where
appropriate, annulling the citizenship of naturalized
Australians who support or incite acts of terrorism.
Attorney General Ruddock commented in a July 27 television
interview that amendments to Australian laws allowed
citizenship to be revoked if it was obtained by fraud, for
example, if criminal and terrorist activity were not
disclosed previously. He emphasized, however, that revoking
citizenship would not mean automatic deportation due to
Australia's human rights practices and treaty obligations.
New South Wales (NSW) police have also requested more robust
search and seizure powers and increased CT training and
resources as the aftermath of the London bombings
demonstrated the expansive role of the police as first
responders and investigators.

ISLAMIC MODERATES PROPOSE ALTERNATIVE PLAN
--------------

8. (U) Meanwhile, August 22 press accounts reported that the
Forum on Australia's Islamic Relations (FAIR) had announced
its own six-point plan, separate from the PM's meeting,
entitled "Muslims Must Modernize" calling for reform within
the Muslim community. The Forum's executive director,
Kuranda Seyit, argued that the PM's summit with Muslim
leaders would achieve nothing because it excluded key members
of Australia's Islamic community. The six-point plan
included:
-- A formal licensing system for imams.
-- A support program for imams, to include English language
teaching if necessary and lessons in Australian political and
social systems.
-- Mentors for post-school youths to develop leadership
skills.
-- A college to train home-grown imams - the Islamic Research
Center in Brisbane is working towards this under the auspices
of Griffith University.
-- Focus groups to examine community needs.
-- An effective media strategy to counter negative publicity.
The Forum also wrote to New South Wales Premier Morris Iemma,
and Opposition leader, John Brogden, seeking meetings.

COMMENT: PUBLIC SUPPORT FOR CT REFORM WIDESPREAD
-------------- ---

9. (C) Recent polling data suggested that most Australians
would support strengthened CT measures. Seventy-eight
percent of respondents agreed with deporting terrorist
suspects and fifty-six percent approved of detaining
terrorist suspects for up to three months without charge.
Proposals for more security cameras in public places and
random bag searches were supported by eighty-seven percent
and sixty-six percent of those surveyed, respectively.
Sixty-one percent were in favor of a national ID card.
However, only one in four approved of a "shoot to kill"
policy and only twenty-eight percent supported detaining
terrorist suspects indefinitely without charge. Two-thirds
of Australians believed that Australia is more at risk of
terrorist attacks because of its participation in the Iraq
war, a position the GOA has strongly denied despite
increasing pressure from the Opposition to do so. Thus, the
political climate is such that the PM should be able to sell
a balanced package to strengthen CT measures nationwide with
the support of all but fringe political and religious groups.
Even opposition Australian Labor Party (ALP) MPs have told
us they are "fed up" with Islamic schools that teach
anti-Australian views and would be willing to work with the
Coalition government to legislate universal curricular
standards in all Australian schools.

ADDENDUM
--------------

10. (U) Muslim leaders invited to the August 23 meeting with
the PM include:
-- Dr. Ameer Ali, President, Australian Federation of Islamic
Councils
-- Sheikh Taj Aldin Alhilali, Mufti of Australia
-- Dr. Mohammad Taha Al Salami, President, Iraqi Islamic
Council of Australia
-- Mr. Ali Roude OAM, Acting President, Islamic Council New
South Wales
-- Ms. Iktimal Hage-Ali, New South Wales Youth Advisory
Council
-- Ms. Aziza Abdulhalim, President, Muslim Women's National
Network Australia
-- Dr. Amin Hady, Imam of Zetland Mosque
-- Mr. Hassan Bazzi, President, Al Zahra Muslim Association
-- Sheikh Shafiq Rahman Abullah Khan, Chairman, Australian
Islamic Cultural Center
-- Sheikh Femi Naji El-Imam, Imam, Islamic Society of Victoria
-- Mr. Malcolm Thomas, President, Islamic Council of Victoria
-- Mr. Yasser Soliman, Member, Council for Multicultural
Australia
-- Ms. Yasmin Khan, President, Islamic Women's Association of
Queensland
-- Mr. Hajji Abdul Rahman (Ray) Deen, Executive Committee,
Australian Federation of Islamic Councils

STANTON