November 11, 2005

ISLAMIC EXTREMISTS TOLD TO LEAVE AUSTRALIA


CANBERRA, Australia, Nov. 11 (UPI) -- An Australian official urged Islamic extremists to leave the country, saying there was no point living in a country under a system they oppose.

"There are some things Australia stands for, has always stood for, always will stand for, which will never change," Federal Treasurer Peter Costello said Friday on the television show "A Current Affair."

"We will never be an Islamic state. We will never observe Sharia law. ... We will always be a democracy."

Costello said people who were unhappy with that reality should leave Australia rather than try to change it, suggesting the problem might lie with the individual rather than the country. He encouraged people of dual nationality to go to their other country of citizenship if they disapproved of Australia.

Costello said the times were dangerous and terrorist threats might persist into the future, warning that "we as a community have to be on our guard."

Copyright 2005 by United Press International. All Rights Reserved.

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