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Text messages and terror connections inflame Muslim protests

Updated September 17, 2012 21:16:00

A protest in Sydney against an online video that mocks the Prophet Mohammed may have become violent thanks to a trail of text messages and the influence of known extremists, some with terrorist connections.

Source: 7.30 | Duration: 6min 15sec

Topics: islam, unrest-conflict-and-war, terrorism, sydney-2000, australia


LEIGH SALES, PRESENTER: Everybody's still talking about the violent and unpredictable Muslim uprising that took place in Sydney on the weekend.

Police are starting to piece together who was responsible and they've found some alarming links to Islamic extremism. They're dissecting text messages sent by the ringleaders demonstrating an intent to make a confronting statement which would not go unnoticed.

Hayden Cooper reports.

HAYDEN COOPER, REPORTER: Chaos and violence on the streets of Sydney. The mayhem of Saturday shocked the nation and brought a worldwide wave of protests home.

JAMILA RIZVI, EYEWITNESS: The mood felt nothing like I felt in Australia before. I suddenly felt like I wasn't at home and there was a real tenseness in the air and a sense of urgency from the police.

HAYDEN COOPER: Eight were arrested. Police say more will follow as they investigate who started it, who escalated it and why.

ANDREW SCIPIONE, NSW POLICE COMMISSIONER: We've dealt with those people and we will continue to deal with them over the coming weeks when we arrest them and put them before a court and let a judge deal with them, or a magistrate.

HAYDEN COOPER: This was a protest driven by text message. The first was sent on Friday calling for Muslims to attend and fight back against an American anti-Islam film that had sparked anger and violence the world over.

PROTESTOR: They've insulted our prophet Muhammad.

TEXT MESSAGE (male voiceover): "Stop everything, cancel all your plans. Tomorrow town hall 1pm is your calling to rise up and speak up against intentional and deliberate attempts to humiliate the Muslims ...".

HAYDEN COOPER: A second text followed.

TEXT MESSAGE (male voiceover): "They have mocked him in pictures and no they're mocking him in a movie. Why are we allowing this? Why are we silenced? No, I will not accept this. We must defend his honour. Tomorrow at Town Hall Station, 1pm. We must act now!"

HAYDEN COOPER: While some came peacefully, it seems that others were intent on violence. After the protest, they were proud of their efforts. Another group text message was sent congratulating those who attended.

TEXT MESSAGE (male voiceover): "Allah Akbar. Well done my brothers and sisters that were at the protest. This is a form of jihad. We voiced our opinion and insha'Allah they will finally get the message. We the young and real followers of Muhammad rose up against the enemies of Islam."

NEIL FERGUS, FMR INTELLIGENCE DIRECTOR, SYDNEY OLYMPICS: It's incredibly regrettable, particularly when you look at the naivety of the content of that message. I mean, it's reckless, but it's also incredibly naive to think that a protest at Sydney Town Hall is somehow gonna make the point to some irresponsible so-called film-maker of this garbage. You know, they've gotta get a grip on reality, these people, they really do.

NICK KALDAS, NSW ASST POLICE COMMISSIONER: Look, it's difficult to go into specifics, but we will definitely do our best to track down the source or sources of those messages and we'll take the appropriate action from there.

HAYDEN COOPER: Police have noted the presence in the crowd on Saturday of this slogan, "6th Pillar", a reference to jihad. Some believe it's a shadowy group that's been formed to promote the violent uprising. Assistant Commissioner Nick Kaldas isn't saying either way.

NICK KALDAS: Quite often groups come together, call themselves a name, they don't tell anybody else what they're doing or the fact that they have formed a group or the fact that they've invented a name for themselves, and just as quickly sometimes, they disappear, they dissipate.

HAYDEN COOPER: But some faces in the crowd do stand out to those with experience in intelligence and security. Neil Fergus was the director of intelligence at the Sydney Olympics.

NEIL FERGUS: Certainly a few individuals are people who have been involved in peddling, propagating extremist views, supporting extremist causes.

HAYDEN COOPER: Some of those involved in the protest have connections to several terrorism-related cases in the past, including criminal proceedings brought in 2005 against a group of Muslim men accused of planning a terrorist attack. Some go back even further.

NEIL FERGUS: I recognised a couple of people from the footage who are people who back when we were preparing for the Sydney Olympics, a couple of these people were persons of interest then and have been involved - some of them in some of the terrorist-related investigations that have taken place in Australia in the intervening 12 years.

HAYDEN COOPER: Online editor and journalist Jamila Rizvi witnessed the protests and was stunned by its ferocity.

JAMILA RIZVI: I think there really is a small minority of Australian Muslims, mostly men, who feel very disenfranchised, who feel disconnected and alone and they feel misunderstood by Australian society. And something like this gives them someone to channel their anger and that's incredibly dangerous.

HAYDEN COOPER: And that's where groups like Hizb ut-Tahrir seek to capitalise. As protestors were smashing up police cars, the Islamist group was preparing to hold a major conference in Sydney's west. Its spokesman denies any involvement in the planning of the protest, but acknowledges a deeper tension at play.

UTHMAN BADAR, REPRESENTATIVE, HIZB UT-TAHRIR: Some people think it's a case of random guy makes a random B-grade film and the whole Muslim world erupts. That makes no sense. Really it's a trigger that's brought to the fore deep-seated underlying tensions.

HAYDEN COOPER: The guest speaker was British Hizb ut-Tahrir leader Taji Mustafa, a man whose very presence sent an uneasy ripple all the way to Canberra, where the Opposition wants him gone.

JULIE BISHOP, DEPUTY LIBERAL LEADER: Will the minister explain why the Government allows preachers of hate into our country?

CHRIS BOWEN, IMMIGRATION MINISTER: Thank you, Deputy Speaker. I would remind the Leader of the Opposition that this organisation is not proscribed in Australia or in like-minded countries, or in like-minded countries and the normal rules for entry of British nationals have applied.