Register - WIN a $10,000 Safari | Login  Cleric in struggle for
power  June 6, 2004  A Melbourne man who has been investigated
by federal police along with terror suspect Bilal Khazal, says
his Muslim group is growing, report Larry Schwartz, Eamonn Duff
and Frank Walker.  A Melbourne Muslim cleric once accused of
having terrorist links has been drawn into a bitter struggle in
the Muslim community over his group's growing influence.
Jordanian-born Sheikh Mohammed Omran last week dismissed
criticism of the $2.65 million purchase by his organisation of a
Sydney mosque to accommodate its increasing following.  Sheikh
Taj al-Din al-Hilali, imam of Sydney's Lakemba Mosque, told the
London-based Arabic newspaper Asharq al-Awsat that despite
claims by a group associated with Sheikh Omran that the mosque
could be bought by Jews or Buddhists, "no Jewish group is trying
to buy the property and they are spreading the rumour just to
stir emotions and blackmail the faithful into giving support".
Sheikh Omran heads the Br