Australia: Muslim extremists are recruiting young Somali refugees in Melbourne to join Islamic jihad

Ninemsn:

The Age reports that Herse Hilole, a Sydney community leader and Islamic scholar, fears the young refugees could be used in terrorism attacks in Australia.

In a speech to be delivered tonight in Melbourne at a Somali community meeting, Hilole will warn that some Somalis are being influenced by radical Lebanese from a hardline Wahhabi group.

He told the newspaper that extremists have made allies with a Somali mosque in North Melbourne, where some youth have been recruited to fight a jihad in Somalia.

Other Melbourne Somali leaders denied the claims.

In Hilole's speech, he claims that extremists in Somalia are using terrorist tactics similar to those used in Iraq, and they have found many supporters in Australia.

"We know that some people left Australia to join the jihad of the Islamic Courts and have even been killed. We know there are supporters in Australia who want to recruit young Somalis to go back or support financially the Islamic Courts," he says. "The community must be made aware of this and we must put a stop to it."

Terror fear as extremists seek local Somali recruits