Some good news. I am tired of the mullah bashing, so we shall start some compliments :p:
CAIRO, June 16, 2005 (IslamOnline.net) – The Australian government and people have paid tribute to the role played by the Grand Mufti of Australia to secure the release of the Australian hostage in Iraq from his captors.
"He has made an enormous effort,” said Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer.
Sheikh Taj Aldin Al-Hilali has spent much of the past month in Iraq trying to negotiate the release of the Australian contractor, Douglas Wood, who was released during an Iraqi military operation Wednesday, June 15.
“Real credit should be given to him (Hilali) for the effort that he made and the risks that he took including to his own security and in assisting the team’s efforts to try to get Douglas Wood released," Downer told ABC Wednesday, June 15.
The 63-year-old contractor was kidnapped in late April by a self-styled Iraqi group calling itself the Shura Council of the Mujahedeen of Iraq, which initially demanded that Australia pull its 800 troops out of Iraq.
The top Aussie official also hailed the role of the Muslim minority in Australia in securing the release of the Australian national.
“That’s one of the assets we have as a multicultural country, that people all came together as ‘Team Australia’, and they brought their different strengths and so we appreciate it very much the contribution Sheikh Al-Hilali and more generally the Australian Islamic Community made,” he said.
