Howard condemns Australian Muslim cleric who defended rape

Oct 29, 2006, 8:20 GMT

Sydney - Muslims must listen to mainstream Australia and condemn a cleric who said women who didn't wear a veil were 'uncovered meat' inviting rape, Prime Minister John Howard said Sunday.

'The responsibility to resolve this matter sensibly rests with the Islamic community,' Howard told reporters. 'I don't appoint him, I can't dismiss him.'

Sheik Taj Din al-Hilali claims he has widespread support to continue in his job as the leader of Australia's 350,000 Muslims. The Egyptian-born Mufti of Australia has so far escaped censure from the governing board of Sydney's Lakemba Mosque.

He told 500 fasting-month worshippers that an unveiled woman got what she deserved because 'if she hadn't left the meat uncovered the cat wouldn't have snatched it.'

Howard has pressured the Lakemba governors to respond to the outcry by giving the 66-year-old mufti his marching orders. Howard urged Muslims 'to resolve this matter in a way that promotes the interests of harmony in our community and promotes the view Islamic Australians are fully integrated into Australian society.'

The prime minister added: 'If this matter is not properly handled by the Islamic community, I am concerned that their failure to do so will do lasting damage to the perceptions of that community within the Australian community. His remarks were totally unacceptable, full stop.'

Howard picked al-Hilali for a 14-member Muslim advisory panel set up after the London bombings in July that killed 56 commuters despite his record of extremism.

Al-Hilali has denied the Holocaust, defended suicide bombers, described as 'God's work' the 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States, and blamed Jews for 'all the wars and problems that threaten the peace and stability of all the world.'

Al-Hilali's standard defence when taken to task for his extremist views is to deny them, or say that the fault lies in a mistranslation from the Arabic he customarily speaks in.