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Australia row over fake leaflet PM Howard condemns fake leaflets
(about 2 hours later)
Australia's ruling Liberal Party is facing accusations of race hate and dirty tricks by two of its members just days before the general election. Australian Prime Minister John Howard has condemned the distribution of bogus leaflets by party members in a key seat, two days before nationwide polls.
The party members were caught distributing bogus leaflets purporting to be from an Islamist group. Mr Howard, who is trailing Labor Party rival Kevin Rudd in opinion polls, said that the pamphlets were "wrong" and not authorised by his Liberal Party.
In the leaflets, the fake organisation applauds the opposition Labor Party for supporting Islamic extremists. The leaflets purported to be from an Islamist group and suggested that Labor sympathised with bombers.
The Liberal party has expelled the members and said it condemns their "offensive" and "unauthorised" actions. Those involved faced expulsion from the Liberal Party, officials said.
Several people were seen by supporters of Kevin Rudd's opposition Labor Party handing out the mock pamphlets in the Lindsay area of west Sydney. Both party leaders have been campaigning hard ahead of Saturday's election. The prime minister is seeking a fifth term in office but polls indicate Mr Rudd is maintaining a sizeable lead.
The incident is expected to be a serious blow for Prime Minister John Howard, who is already behind in the polls for the general election on Saturday. The BBC's Nick Bryant, in Sydney, says that this kind of scandal is just about the last thing Mr Howard's beleaguered party needs.
Bali references 'Unjustly sentenced'
Reports say the leaflets, which carried the Australian Labor Party logo, claimed to be from an organisation called the Islamic Australia Federation, which does not exist. On Wednesday, Liberal Party members were caught distributing leaflets purporting to be from an Islamist group in the key Sydney marginal of Lindsay.
These actions, if proved true, have been directed at nothing other than destroying our chances here in Lindsay David Bradbury, Labor candidate It was not authorised by the Liberal Party, it is no part of our campaign PM John Howard
In the leaflets, the bogus organisation thanked Labor for supporting Islamic terrorists and refers to the men imprisoned for the 2002 bomb attacks in Bali. In the leaflet, which carries the Labor Party logo, a fake organisation - the Islamic Australia Federation - applauds Labor for supporting Islamic extremists.
It refers to the men imprisoned for the 2002 nightclub bomb attacks in Bali, which left more than 200 people dead.
"We gratefully acknowledge Labor's support to forgive our Muslim brothers who have been unjustly sentenced to death for the Bali bombings," it said."We gratefully acknowledge Labor's support to forgive our Muslim brothers who have been unjustly sentenced to death for the Bali bombings," it said.
The leaflet went on to say that Labor supports the building of new mosques in the area and to thank the party for supporting the entry of controversial cleric Sheikh Taj el-Din al-Hilali into Australia. Labor supported the building of new mosques, the leaflet added, thanking the party for backing the entry of controversial cleric Sheikh Taj el-Din al-Hilali - who likened scantily-clad women to uncovered meat.
The Liberal Party director for New South Wales, Graham Jaeschke, said neither he nor the party authorised the leaflets and he condemned the action of the former members. 'Unfair and dishonest'
"This is unacceptable behaviour. We've acted very quickly to fix this issue," he said. Mr Howard said that this type of material should never have been distributed.
Investigation "It was not authorised by the Liberal Party, it is no part of our campaign, it was wrong and unfair and dishonest for any pamphlet to be distributed suggesting that the Labor Party was sympathetic to the Bali bombers," he said.
The Labor Party's candidate for Lindsay, David Bradbury, was reported to be "outraged". Mr Rudd has urged the Liberal Party to clarify who knew about the leaflets.
"If what is alleged did occur, it is a very serious personal attack on me and a serious attack on the Labor Party here in Lindsay," he told ABC News. "This says everything about the desperate and desperation politics on the part of the Liberal Party on the eve of the election," he told Australian radio.
"These actions, if proved true, have been directed at nothing other than destroying our chances here in Lindsay." The issue has been referred to the Australian Electoral Commission and Labor has asked it to investigate whether the group acted illegally by appealing to anti-Muslim sentiment.
The issue has been referred to the Australian Electoral Commission and Labor has asked them to investigate whether the group acted illegally by appealing to anti-Muslim sentiment. President of the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils Ikebal Patel told ABC radio that while election campaigning to date had been "fairly good" on the issue of migration, the use of the flyers was "quite despicable".
Both members have been expelled from the Liberal Party and the volunteers involved have been removed from the election campaign teams. Two unidentified members of the Liberal Party face disciplinary action and volunteers who distributed the leaflets have been removed from campaign teams.