Posted on 11/01/2001 10:17:26 AM PST by Eric Esot
AFGHANISTAN has declared holy war on Australia. The Taliban ambassador to Pakistan, Abdul Salam Zaeef, last night declared Australia a target for retaliation.
Until yesterday, only the US and Britain had been named as enemies of the Taliban, which harbours Osama bin Laden's terrorist network.
"Any person, any military coming to Afghanistan, for invasion, for fighting the people of Afghanistan, we are ready for a jihad," he said.
"Any people who join with the Americans - they are Americans to us."
Answering Australian journalists, he said jihad applied to anyone who joined America in the war on Afghanistan.
Asked if that included Australians in Australia, he replied: "Yes, yes, yes, this is clear."
Mullah Zaeef said the flow of asylum seekers to Australia would not stop until the attacks against Afghanistan ceased.
More than 1500 Australian troops have been committed to join the US and Britain in the war against terrorism.
Prime Minister John Howard last night said Australia was prepared to meet any threat.
He said increased security measures had been put in place after the September 11 terrorist attacks on America.
"We should not ignore this, but we should not overreact," Mr Howard said.
"My message to the Australian people is one of reassurance, but also one of saying we cannot just be brazenly indifferent to this sort of thing."
The Islamic Council of Victoria last night appealed to Australian Muslims to ignore the declaration of a holy war.
Council president Yasser Soliman called on all Muslims to work towards peace. "I would definitely direct all Muslims to ignore any calls for a holy war against Australia," he said. "Muslims should be working with all sectors of Australia for a holy peace.
"I think the Taliban themselves, speaking as Muslims, would have to admit that killing innocent people is also wrong."
But the Taliban ambassador to Pakistan said Australia was wrong for siding with America.
"If they are joining with Americans in coming to Afghanistan the jihad is clear, (it includes) any person who wants to accompany the forces of America," Mr Zaeef said.
Mr Howard condemned the Taliban for portraying the conflict in religious terms. "It is not an issue of religion, it is an issue of good against evil and fighting evil ought to be a common cause among the great religions of the world, of which Islam is clearly one," he said.
"It is the Taliban that is defining this issue in religious terms, it is not the US and it's not Australia."
The United States and Britain have mounted a non-stop bombing campaign in Afghanistan to weaken the Taliban before a ground assault by opposition forces under US guidance.
Special forces troops, including 150 from Australia's Special Air Service, will conduct surgical strikes deep inside Taliban territory.
The Government's Special Incident Task Force will meet to decide the government's response to the new threat.
That task force, led by the Attorney-General's Department, involves all government security agencies, including Defence, which has been on high alert since the September 11 attacks.
A government source said the jihad comments would certainly alter the security posture.
Australia is already on a high security alert and agencies are prepared for a terrorist attack.
Is this an admission that they are sending refugees to Australia not to immigrate but to infiltrate?
And Turkey and the rest of the Muslim world too. They might as well declare jihad on Afghanistan while they have the list out for updating.
If attacked by Islamic fanatics, the Aussies can throw kangaroos at the fanatics!
So this is like, "All right, fine: that's a jihad on you, and you, and you...."
Dan
They're running from you, idiot!
Well, I guess they won't worry about that if a jet were to fly into one of their high rises in Sydney, will they?
They won't last that long!
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