Cleric probed by tax office on Saudi cash

A SENIOR Muslim cleric working for the tax office in Canberra is being investigated over accusations he failed to pay income tax on thousands of dollars he allegedly received from the Saudi embassy. An ACT Islamic organisation has also accused the Palestinian-born imam Mohammad Swaiti of being radical, anti-Western inhis religious teachings and failing to declare payments he received from officiating at wedding ceremonies. Documents obtained by The Australian reveal an Australian Tax Office investigation into Sheik Swaiti over allegations by senior Muslim community leaders that he failed to declare his clerical allowances of up to $US30,000 ($37,700) a year, which were paid to him by the Saudi Government.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200703/s1871012.htm

Govt orders probe into Muslim tax cheating claims

Federal Assistant Treasurer Peter Dutton has asked the Tax Commissioner to investigate reports that some hardline Muslim clerics are encouraging people to cheat the tax system.

A newspaper report today suggests some extremist clerics are advocating tax avoidance because they say paying tax is contrary to Islamic law.

Mr Dutton says anyone with information should call the Australian Taxation Office.

"I've written to the Commissioner of Taxation asking for him to have a look at the matter," he said.

"I'd call on anybody in the Australian community that has information in relation to people evading their tax or advocating that people should evade their tax to call the tax office to provide them with as much information as possible."

The most senior Muslim cleric in Canberra has praised Islamic jihadists in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Mohammed Swaiti yesterday called on God to grant “victory to mujahideen (Muslim holy warriors)” worldwide, The Weekend Australian newspaper reports.

“God grant victory to the mujahideen in his name in all places,” Sheik Swaiti called out twice in Arabic over a microphone at Abu Bakr mosque in Yarralumla in front of about 500 worshippers.

“God grant victory to mujahideen in Palestine, and Chechnya and Kashmir and Afghanistan and Iraq.”

While Sheik Swaiti translated his sermon into English for non-Arabic-speaking members, the imam of Canberra’s only mosque omitted the praise for Islamic jihadists in the English version.

After the sermon the Palestinian-born cleric denied he was referring to Muslim holy fighters, saying jihad referred not only to fighting but also to self-discipline.

“Jihad means no alcohol and no gambling,” Sheik Swaiti told the newspaper.

Swaiti must think we are all stupid… Jihad means “striving hard in God’s cause”.

This is not the first time Mr Swaiti has been in trouble, only a couple months back Mr Swaiti was being investigated for tax fraud.

http://www.downundernewslinks.com/

The big news here is yet more documentation that the Saudi Government is bankrolling radical clerics worldwide, and is the financial source of radical Islam

I keep saying, I doubt the radical mosques and madrassahs are taking in enough donations from their members to keep things rolling. They need money infusions. The terrorists are just the mosquitos we keep swatting. The Saudis and their money are the swamp which will continue to breed them until we drain the swamp

http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?

ID=10718

excerpt:

During the summer, Saudi security zoomed in on what it identified as al-Qaeda cells. Firefights broke out in several cities between the police and the terrorists. Caches of weapons were found. A number of al-Qaeda members were arrested and jailed, but not transferred to the U.S. The Saudi Government wanted to draw a line between shrinking al-Qaeda’s influence inside the Kingdom and fully joining an international campaign against Wahhabi Islamism. But this attitude was a casus belli in bin Laden’s eyes.

Then al-Qaeda decided the Saudis had gone too far. One day, Crown Prince Abdallah made a declaration of war against the “clerics” who protected al-Qaeda and legitimized violence. He called them “intruders” and “enemies of the true path.” It was seen, by al-Qaeda, as declaration of war.

At the end of the summer, bin Laden circulated more than one memorandum, closer to a fatwa than a legal opinion, to refute Prince Abdallah’s criticism of the clerics. The storm was brewing. By October, winds of jihad were blowing.Osama bin Laden aired his audiotape on al-Jazeera television, ordering his Mujahedeen to attack infidels around the Middle East on October 19. The Qatari-based satellite TV network not only broadcast the “State of Jihad” address, but played it all day long, and assembled intellectuals to explain it better to the populace.

The rest is current news. Last Thursday, Saudi security elements pursued alleged al-Qaeda militants in Mecca. In a few months, more than one terrorist was located in the holiest shrine of Islam and killed. Arms such as AK-47s and RPGs were found. The last time Mecca tasted violence was in 1979 when dozens of radicals were crushed by the Saudi security. At that time, hundred militants were killed, but no one followed up on the story. But this time, al-Jazeera is here to stir the emotions. And it immediately did...

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