Gold9472
09-08-2005, 12:46 PM
9/11 a US plot, newspaper claims
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,16541783%255E601,00.html
Cameron Stewart
September 09, 2005
AUSTRALIA'S most radical Islamic group has defied John Howard by launching a provocative public campaign to persuade Muslims the 9/11 terror attacks were a massive US-inspired conspiracy.
The latest edition of a new Islamic newspaper launched by fundamentalist Melbourne-based Sheik Mohammed Omran's Ahlus Sunnah Wal-Jamaah Association argues that a plane did not crash into the Pentagon in Washington in the September 11 attacks and that the story was instead a major hoax.
The contentious move by the group comes despite the Prime Minister calling for the nation's Islamic leaders to avoid making inflammatory comments about terrorism.
Sheik Omran was last month snubbed by Mr Howard, who did not invite him to the summit with Muslim leaders in Canberra.
The unprecedented public campaign by Sheik Omran's group comes on the eve of the fourth anniversary of the 2001 attacks in New York and Washington, which killed almost 3000 people.
The newspaper, called Mecca News (http://www.theworldpress.com/presse/pressemonde/pressearabiesaoudite/meccanews.htm), then promises that "in future editions we will uncover the rest of the questions which surround 9/11".
Using pictures to support its arguments, which include claims that there were no remains of a plane found inside the Pentagon, the paper accuses Australia of only now "catching up with the debate" about what really happened on September 11, 2001.
"It is not seen as 'patriotic' to challenge the widely accepted theory, however things are changing," the newspaper states.
The newspaper credits its editor-in-chief and founder, Sheik Omran, with "breaking the ice" by raising questions in Australia about who was responsible for 9/11.
Sheik Omran recently angered the Government and moderate Muslims by effectively proclaiming that Osama bin Laden was a good man and by questioning whether the London bombings in July were carried out by Muslims.
Sheik Omran has also angered moderate Muslim leaders by saying he believed the US, rather than bin Laden, was behind the 9/11 attacks.
This opinion - shared by many radical Muslims - comes despite bin Laden himself admitting involvement in 9/11 attacks in a video broadcast late in 2001, during which the al-Qa'ida leader expressed delight that the death toll had far exceeded his own expectations.
"We calculated in advance the number of casualties," bin Laden said in the video.
Sheik Omran, who said yesterday he was not aware of bin Laden's comments, told The Australian he wanted to spark "healthy debate" with the newspaper.
"If all society agrees on something, that is very unhealthy."
Sheik Omran launched his monthly newspaper last month, saying it would be "educational" and "a breath of fresh air in the field of media and journalism for Muslims in Australia". Accusing the media of being anti-Muslim, Sheik Omran wrote: "Some issues, if left in the hands of a misinformed journalist, may lead to the spread of disease in our society, causing fear, Islamaphobia, suspicion and hatred amongst the Australian society as a whole." The newspaper claims a circulation of 10,000.
But Sheik Omran's decision to use the paper's September edition to convince Australian Muslims that 9/11 was a US-inspired conspiracy is likely to further anger moderate Muslims, who last month urged the cleric to tone down his rhetoric.
The newspaper devotes a feature to supporting claims made by a US author, David Ray Griffin, that a plane never crashed into the Pentagon and that the story was an elaborate hoax by the US.
The feature says: "The hole created in the (Pentagon) facade was not big enough to fit the nose of a plane let alone an entire (Boeing) 757 -- the question is how could such a big airplane have created such a small hole?"
In accompanying commentary, the paper says Australian Muslims sceptical of the official version of 9/11 are subjected to "ideological attacks".
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,16541783%255E601,00.html
Cameron Stewart
September 09, 2005
AUSTRALIA'S most radical Islamic group has defied John Howard by launching a provocative public campaign to persuade Muslims the 9/11 terror attacks were a massive US-inspired conspiracy.
The latest edition of a new Islamic newspaper launched by fundamentalist Melbourne-based Sheik Mohammed Omran's Ahlus Sunnah Wal-Jamaah Association argues that a plane did not crash into the Pentagon in Washington in the September 11 attacks and that the story was instead a major hoax.
The contentious move by the group comes despite the Prime Minister calling for the nation's Islamic leaders to avoid making inflammatory comments about terrorism.
Sheik Omran was last month snubbed by Mr Howard, who did not invite him to the summit with Muslim leaders in Canberra.
The unprecedented public campaign by Sheik Omran's group comes on the eve of the fourth anniversary of the 2001 attacks in New York and Washington, which killed almost 3000 people.
The newspaper, called Mecca News (http://www.theworldpress.com/presse/pressemonde/pressearabiesaoudite/meccanews.htm), then promises that "in future editions we will uncover the rest of the questions which surround 9/11".
Using pictures to support its arguments, which include claims that there were no remains of a plane found inside the Pentagon, the paper accuses Australia of only now "catching up with the debate" about what really happened on September 11, 2001.
"It is not seen as 'patriotic' to challenge the widely accepted theory, however things are changing," the newspaper states.
The newspaper credits its editor-in-chief and founder, Sheik Omran, with "breaking the ice" by raising questions in Australia about who was responsible for 9/11.
Sheik Omran recently angered the Government and moderate Muslims by effectively proclaiming that Osama bin Laden was a good man and by questioning whether the London bombings in July were carried out by Muslims.
Sheik Omran has also angered moderate Muslim leaders by saying he believed the US, rather than bin Laden, was behind the 9/11 attacks.
This opinion - shared by many radical Muslims - comes despite bin Laden himself admitting involvement in 9/11 attacks in a video broadcast late in 2001, during which the al-Qa'ida leader expressed delight that the death toll had far exceeded his own expectations.
"We calculated in advance the number of casualties," bin Laden said in the video.
Sheik Omran, who said yesterday he was not aware of bin Laden's comments, told The Australian he wanted to spark "healthy debate" with the newspaper.
"If all society agrees on something, that is very unhealthy."
Sheik Omran launched his monthly newspaper last month, saying it would be "educational" and "a breath of fresh air in the field of media and journalism for Muslims in Australia". Accusing the media of being anti-Muslim, Sheik Omran wrote: "Some issues, if left in the hands of a misinformed journalist, may lead to the spread of disease in our society, causing fear, Islamaphobia, suspicion and hatred amongst the Australian society as a whole." The newspaper claims a circulation of 10,000.
But Sheik Omran's decision to use the paper's September edition to convince Australian Muslims that 9/11 was a US-inspired conspiracy is likely to further anger moderate Muslims, who last month urged the cleric to tone down his rhetoric.
The newspaper devotes a feature to supporting claims made by a US author, David Ray Griffin, that a plane never crashed into the Pentagon and that the story was an elaborate hoax by the US.
The feature says: "The hole created in the (Pentagon) facade was not big enough to fit the nose of a plane let alone an entire (Boeing) 757 -- the question is how could such a big airplane have created such a small hole?"
In accompanying commentary, the paper says Australian Muslims sceptical of the official version of 9/11 are subjected to "ideological attacks".