The meeting at Australia's Parliament House was called to discuss how to stamp out extremist preaching and keep the country safe from terror attacks in the aftermath of the deadly London terrorist bombings that killed 52 rail and bus commuters on July 7.
"Members of the Muslim faith and in particular its leaders have a responsibility to challenge and counteract those who seek to encourage the use of violence and terrorism in the name of Islam," a statement released after the meeting said.
"The government must support and encourage Islamic leaders to challenge and eradicate extremism," it added. Howard said the group unanimously agreed to reject and combat terrorism.
"It's fair to say that there was unanimous commitment from everybody present as fellow Australians to do all we could to tackle the problem and the potential for difficulty arising from the terrorist threat within our community," Howard told reporters.
A leading delegate Ameer Ali, president of the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils, said there has been some argument about whether Australian troops should be involved in the war on terror in Iraq and Afghanistan. But he added, "We're not here to change the foreign policy of this country."
© 2025