Posted on 03/17/2004 4:06:57 AM PST by Piefloater
FOREIGN Minister Alexander Downer says Islamic cleric Abu Bakar Bashir prediction of a holy war against the west highlight his fanaticism.
Bashir has predicted such a holy war will be directed against America and its Iraq war allies, Britain and Australia.
Bashir is the suspected spiritual leader of the Jemaah Islamiah regional terror network.
He made his claim in a secretly recorded interview from his Jakarta jail cell.
He says he's convinced that sooner or later America and the countries assisting it will be destroyed in the name of Allah.
Mr Downer says Bashir is implicitly calling for the destruction of Australia.
He says BASHIR's supporters peddle an uncompromising ideology of hate that is contrary to the basic teachings of Islam.
The foreign minister says Australia will not be intimidated into changing foreign policy.
Meanwhile, unconfirmed Indonesian news reports say the United States has handed over to Jakarta a report implicating BASHIR in terror-related activity.
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