Australian Muslims afraid of reprisals, condemn bombings

The leaders of Australia's 300,000-strong Muslim community yesterday condemned the latest Bali bombings as a "heinous crime perpetrated by the lowest of criminals."

But they also expressed fears that the loss of at least three Australian lives when bombs went off on Indonesia's holiday island on Saturday might spark reprisals.

At least 25 people are dead and 120 people injured after the bomb blasts.

"We believe that any act of terror is an act of evil," Islamic Council of New South Wales chairman Ali Roude said. "Whatever the circumstances the killing of innocent people in such an horrific and evil approach won't resolve anything or achieve any policy result."

Islamic Council of Victoria described the attack as a crime perpetrated by the lowest of criminals "that should be condemned" in the strongest possible terms "without reservation or qualification."

The Muslim leaders said it was inevitable that the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the US would be repeated and Australian Muslims would be targeted by racist groups.

"The Muslim community is subject to the constant action of being labeled as having direct or indirect links to acts of terrorism, which is unfortunate," Roude said. "We do expect a reaction, and a negative one, from certain sections of the media or the public," he told the AAP news agency.

The bombings came a week after state and territory leaders backed proposed anti-terror legislation proposed by Prime Minister John Howard. The laws will hand police unprecedented new powers, including the right to hold terror suspects for up to 14 days without charge.

Abdullah Saeed, from the University of Melbourne, said the latest bombings would focus attention on Muslims.

"After Bali, after London, now this -- it is going to haunt us," Saeed said. "Every time something like this happens, it is attributed to Muslims."