Tom Allard and Alan Macarenhas - A LEADING Islamic cleric's explanation for his suggestion that women who were raped had their immodest dress to blame has been deemed unsatisfactory by the Federal Government.
The Lakemba-based imam Taj el-Din al Hilaly - said to be ill and depressed - issued a statement from his bed late yesterday saying he was shocked about how his remarks last month had been interpreted.
He was responding to a storm of protest, including widespread calls for his resignation, after he told a gathering that women were "weapons" used by "Satan" to control men and calling for Muslim women to cover their bodies.
"If you take out uncovered meat and place it outside on the street, or in the garden or in the park, or in the backyard without a cover, and the cats come and eat it … whose fault is it, the cats or the uncovered meat?" he said. "The uncovered meat is the problem … if she was in her room, in her home, in her hijab, no problem would have occurred."
Sheik Hilaly said the comments were made in the context of premarital fornication, which he said was caused by women "90 per cent" of the time.
"I condemn rape," he said in the statement yesterday. "I unreservedly apologise to any woman who is offended by my comments. I had only intended to protect women's honour."
The parliamentary secretary for multicultural affairs, Andrew Robb, rejected the explanation from Sheik Hilaly. "We wouldn't have this problem if Sheik Hilaly spoke in English. He has been here 30 years."
The Prime Minister, John Howard, described the remarks as "appalling and reprehensible", a sentiment echoed by the Labor leader, Kim Beazley.
Sheik Hilaly calls himself the Mufti of Australia, an honour given to him 17 years ago by the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils, but many Muslims do not recognise this status and have called for him to relinquish it.
But the federation's past president, Ameer Ali, backed Sheik Hilaly, saying he had used "over the top language" but remained "still the most knowledgeable cleric in Australia".
The Lebanese Muslim Association, which allows him to preach at its mosque in Lakemba, is considering its position.
The United Arab Emirates acknowledged on Tuesday that two of its pilots were killed when their military aggression plane crashed over Jawf province, a military official said
The official added that the aggressive crashed plane was an apache that was
Artillery of the army and popular shelled a gathering of Saudi-paid mercenaries in al-Moqadra area in Serwah district of Marib province, a military official said on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, dozens of Saudi-paid mercenaries were killed and others injured in Wadi al-Theek in the district, the official added.
The army and popular forces carried out on Monday unique military operations in Taiz province.
A military official said that a number of Saudi-paid mercenaries were killed at the hands of the army and popular forces in al-Jazami Hill in al-Kadaha area in al-Ma'afer district.
A Saudi aggression fighter jet targeted a citizen's car driving in Fara area of Kutaf district in Saada province overnight, killing the driver and injuring his friend, a security official said on Monday.
The army artillery and popular committees launched a fierce attack on Saudi-paid mercenaries' sites in Jawf province, a military official said on Monday.
The attack destroyed a military vehicle belonging to the mercenaries and killed all on board in Sabran area in khab and shaaf district.
Scores of Saudi enemy soldiers were killed and injured on Sunday when the army and popular forces repelled a Saudi military attempt to sneak into Shurfah site in the border province of Najran, a military official said.
The operation was accomplished successfully against the Saudi
The army and popular committees have killed a total of 18 Saudi-paid mercenaries in sniper operations over the past hours in the central province of Marib, a military official said on Sunday.
Ten mercenaries were killed in Nehm district and eight others were killed in Serwah district, said the official.
Saudi aggression warplanes have launched more than 49 airstrikes over the past hours on several residential areas across Yemen, a security official said on Sunday.
The airstrikes targeted the areas of Malahiz and Husama in Dhahir district, and areas Thuban, Masahif and Sdad in Bakim district of northern Saada province.
Sheik fights critics from sickbed
