Post by maruf on Jun 20, 2005 18:12:04 GMT -5
Top spy: Muslims our main target
May 20, 2005 Daily Telegraph (Sydney, Australia) Edition: 1 - State
Section: Local
Page: 011
Author: IAN MCPHEDRAN; MATP
IAN MCPHEDRANMATP. "Top spy: Muslims our main target" Daily Telegraph (Sydney, Australia)2005-05-20: 011.Global NewsBank By NewsbankOnline. Infoweb by Newsbank, Inc. June 20, 2005. THE nation's spy master agrees with Muslim leaders there is a perception their communities are targeted by tough new laws, and he makes no apology for it.
ASIO Director-General Dennis Richardson said the laws were aimed at Islamic extremists who would seek to harm Australia or Australians.
Appearing before the powerful Joint Parliamentary Committee responsible for the nation's spy agencies, Mr Richardson said most of ASIO's targets were people who claimed to be Muslim .
``The biggest security challenge we face at the moment [is in respect of people who hide within Islam and who seek to justify what they do in the name of Islam,'' Mr Richardson said.
``That being the case, it is inevitable that most of our targets today will be people who claim to be Muslims , and therefore might reside in Australian Muslim communities.''
The outgoing spy chief agreed there was a perception the anti-terrorism laws targeted Muslims .
``I think that would be probably an accurate statement,'' he said.
He said ASIO and other government agencies and politicians spent a lot of time reassuring Muslim communities that they were not the target of ASIO's attention.
``We have sought to reassure that we do not target communities. We target individuals and groups,'' he said.
``But it is a great challenge to retain the confidence of a broader community grouping when you are targeting individuals and groups within that broader community.''
My comments: It does not take a rocket scientist to figure this out.
Mr Richardson leaves ASIO next month to become Australia's ambassador in Washington after eight years at the top of the nation's domestic spy agency.
Senate estimates hearings next week will mark his final appearance
before parliamentary committees where he has developed a reputation for fearless responses to the most political or stupid questions.
In what could be his final appearance before the oversight committee he yesterday called for the removal of a ``sunset'' clause that allowed Parliament to review ASIO's power to question and detain terrorist suspects.
``Laws must be in place before terrorists strike as it is virtually impossible to play legislative catch up after an actual attack or after an identified threat has emerged,'' he said.
He warned Australia remained a terrorist target and he reminded the committee that Australian interests had been targeted at home and overseas by terrorists every year since 2000.
May 20, 2005 Daily Telegraph (Sydney, Australia) Edition: 1 - State
Section: Local
Page: 011
Author: IAN MCPHEDRAN; MATP
IAN MCPHEDRANMATP. "Top spy: Muslims our main target" Daily Telegraph (Sydney, Australia)2005-05-20: 011.Global NewsBank By NewsbankOnline. Infoweb by Newsbank, Inc. June 20, 2005. THE nation's spy master agrees with Muslim leaders there is a perception their communities are targeted by tough new laws, and he makes no apology for it.
ASIO Director-General Dennis Richardson said the laws were aimed at Islamic extremists who would seek to harm Australia or Australians.
Appearing before the powerful Joint Parliamentary Committee responsible for the nation's spy agencies, Mr Richardson said most of ASIO's targets were people who claimed to be Muslim .
``The biggest security challenge we face at the moment [is in respect of people who hide within Islam and who seek to justify what they do in the name of Islam,'' Mr Richardson said.
``That being the case, it is inevitable that most of our targets today will be people who claim to be Muslims , and therefore might reside in Australian Muslim communities.''
The outgoing spy chief agreed there was a perception the anti-terrorism laws targeted Muslims .
``I think that would be probably an accurate statement,'' he said.
He said ASIO and other government agencies and politicians spent a lot of time reassuring Muslim communities that they were not the target of ASIO's attention.
``We have sought to reassure that we do not target communities. We target individuals and groups,'' he said.
``But it is a great challenge to retain the confidence of a broader community grouping when you are targeting individuals and groups within that broader community.''
My comments: It does not take a rocket scientist to figure this out.
Mr Richardson leaves ASIO next month to become Australia's ambassador in Washington after eight years at the top of the nation's domestic spy agency.
Senate estimates hearings next week will mark his final appearance
before parliamentary committees where he has developed a reputation for fearless responses to the most political or stupid questions.
In what could be his final appearance before the oversight committee he yesterday called for the removal of a ``sunset'' clause that allowed Parliament to review ASIO's power to question and detain terrorist suspects.
``Laws must be in place before terrorists strike as it is virtually impossible to play legislative catch up after an actual attack or after an identified threat has emerged,'' he said.
He warned Australia remained a terrorist target and he reminded the committee that Australian interests had been targeted at home and overseas by terrorists every year since 2000.