Muslims in Australia face Bali backlash

The Australian authorities have been accused of demonising the Muslim community with a series of high-profile armed raids on the homes of Indonesian-born Muslims suspected of terrorist links.

Federal police and intelligence agents armed with sub- machineguns and sledge- hammers swooped on nearly a dozen homes in Sydney, Perth and Melbourne, smashing in front doors in some cases before interrogating residents and seizing property.

The raids, which follow the bomb blasts that killed at least 180 people in Bali, have antagonised the Muslim community and strained relations with Indonesia.

The government denies it is harassing Muslims and says the operation is aimed at investigating possible links between individuals and the banned extremist movement Jamaah Islamiya. The group, led by an Indonesian cleric, Abu Bakar Bashir, has been widely blamed for the blasts at the beach resort of Kuta.

Most of the people interrogated by the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) attended lectures given by Mr Bashir during visits to Australia in the 1990s. The raids have not resulted in a single charge or arrest, and civil liberties groups have condemned them as a publicity stunt. Police have identified a worrying backlash against Muslims since Bali, with 40 attacks on Muslims reported in New South Wales alone in the fortnight after the blasts.

Critics of the ASIO operation are asking two questions: Did intelligence information about a possible sleeper cell suddenly came to light post-Bali? And if it was available before the blasts, why was it not acted upon earlier?

Stephen Hopper, a lawyer, described the raids as a vulgar example of racial profiling.

Suspicions that the raids may be more show than substance were fuelled yesterday by a Sydney man, Moshem Thalib, who once put up Mr Bashir in his house. He said that, believing the ASIO would want to talk to him, he contacted it through his lawyer and offered himself for interview. The invitation was declined, but two days later agents swooped on his home.