Sheik Taj Din al-Hilali, the mufti of Australia, is planning to have a little get-together with “radical” and “moderate” Muslim leaders, because the Islamic advisory board picked by Prime Minister John Howard doesn’t meet his high standards: Muslim advisory group stillborn: Mufti.

THE nation’s Islamic spiritual leader has demanded a meeting of moderate and radical imams after slamming John Howard’s hand-picked Muslim advisory body as “stillborn”.

Sheik Taj Din al-Hilali accused the Prime Minister of setting up the 14-member Muslim Community Reference Group to disseminate government “propaganda” under the guise of an elite Islamic body. He said its members did not have the insight or community links to stamp out Islamic extremism in Australia.

“The group has done nothing. It is stillborn,” he said during an interview conducted in Arabic. “What kind of people have they (the Government) chosen? Either the Government thinks we’re blind to accept (most) of the 14, or the Government itself is blind.”

The 65-year-old mufti stood draped in the nation’s flag when photographed for The Australian in his office at Lakemba Mosque in Sydney’s southwest. He said he wanted to express his love for the country he has made his home since 1982. “The love for Australia and belonging to Australia is in my blood,” Sheik Hilali said.

He said he was planning to convene a meeting of the nation’s moderate and radical imams as soon as practicable to debate the issues of Islamic extremism and try to put an end to it.

In March 2004, Sheik Taj Din al-Hilali was featured at LGF when he was caught giving a sermon in Lebanon, in which he called the 9/11 attacks “God’s work:” lgf: Australian Mufti Weasels.

He’s fond of posing with Australian flags.

Hilaly had been seen as a voice of religious tolerance, but that changed dramatically last month when he preached in Lebanon.

According to a translation from the Australian Embassy in Beirut, he told worshippers at one mosque: “Don’t be surprised if one day you hear the Muezzin calling for prayer and saying ‘Allahu Akbar’ (God is great) from the top of the White House. Sept. 11 is God’s work against oppressors.”

While in Lebanon, he also met officials from the Hezbollah guerrilla group — which Australia and the United States list as a terrorist organization. He also reportedly voiced support for Palestinian suicide bombers. …

Officials with Australia’s main Islamic organization say they are standing by Hilaly, who returned to Australia on Saturday.

Sitting at his desk at Sydney’s largest mosque with the Australian flag draped behind him on Tuesday, Hilaly defended his position.

None of this is mentioned in the article from The Australian linked above. I guess the editors thought it wasn’t important.