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A brilliant article by Rick Feneley was published in the Sydney Morning Herald on May 1st in which the case against Sheikh Mansour Leghaei was exposed as baseless.

The article, Accusations Lost in Translation, chronicles a rather worrying list of accusations that have been made against the Sheikh – accusations that incriminate not only Mansour but his entire family.

Sheikh Mansour’s sister, for instance, is depicted as an agent of the Iranian government who walks the streets of Tehran with a walkie-talkie hidden under her veil, informing on women who dress immodestly. The detailed nature of the accusation would suggest that it must have some basis in reality, except that Mansour doesn’t have a sister!

Of course this is only one of a series of accusations about our Iranian Sheikh, but Feneley’s article brought to mind for me Anthonly Flew’s old dictum – that 100 leaking buckets hold no more water than one leaking bucket. Read it here.

The other news is that on Monday May 3rd Mansour was given yet another two week extension on his visa, to give more time to the Minister to make up his mind about his future. How long, O Lord, must we wait for justice?

ABC Lateline, 7 April 2010. Sheikh Mansour Leghaei’s opponents finally come out into the open and face the cameras. A group calling themsleves the Iranian Action Coalition claimed to have new evidence linking Sheikh Mansour to human rights abuses in Iran. When pushed though they were unwiling (or unable) to produce anything.

Other major articles published recently include:

• Sally Neighbour’s less than helpful article about the Repression of Iranian students in Australia.
• Afshin Nikouseresht – the person interviewed for the above article – writes about inaccuries in Sally Neighbour’s report.
• Mike Carlton uses Sheikh Mansour as an example of the Bumbling Activities of ASIO.
• Joel Gibson also writes in the Sydney Morning Herald about the Dark Side of ASIO.
• A great article appears in The National coming from an Interview with Sheikh and Father Dave by the BBC.

March 28, 2010.  Almost 1000 supporters of Dr Mansour Leghaei gathered in Steele Park in Marrickville, calling upon the Australian government to reconsider the decision to deport their favourite Sheikh (click on the thumbnails above for full size pics).

Join us on Sunday March28th for the Unity in the Community BBQ – calling on our government for a fair go for Sheikh Mansour Leghaei.

This is a chance for all of Sheikh Mansour’s supporters – Muslims, Christians, people of other faiths and people of no specific faith – to come together to express their concern for the man and his family.

Festivities will be held at Steel Park (Illawarra Road, Marrickville) beginning at 11am and continuing until 4pm.  Sausages will be provided, courtesy of the Imam Husain Islamic Centre but you can equally bring your own picnic (but NO alcohol please).

Download the full-sized poster by clicking here.  Print it and post it up in your  school, church, mosque or office.

9 Mar 2010 1:37PM

Sydney, March 9: Anglican, Catholic, Indigenous and Muslim community leaders have joined in seeking to block the imminent deportation of one of Australia’s most senior Islamic leaders.

Sheikh Mansour Leghaei, his wife and one of his four children are facing deportation to Iran on Friday, March 19, despite having lived in Australia since 1994.

Dr Leghaei plays a leading role in “interfaith” dialogues which work across religious divides to develop social services, such as youth outreach. More than 1,000 letters are being sent to Immigration Minister Senator Chris Evans from prominent community leaders including:-

• Anglican Minister Father Dave Smith
• Former head of the Cancer Council Australia, Professor Alan Coates
• Franciscan nun Sister Aileen Crowe
• Uniting Church Minister Rev Hannie Hoffman
• Boxer Nader Hamden
• Indigenous leader Pastor Ray Minniecon
• Marrickville Mayor Sam Iskander

“Dr Leghaei has been central to our combined work in the community with the young and the disaffected. We are horrified at the thought of trying to continue this work without him,” said Father Smith, founder of the Christian Save the Sheikh Coalition.

“At a time when it is more important than ever to build bridges between people of different faiths, his removal will provoke enormous bitterness and tension.”

Dr Leghaei, a moderate Shia and Australia’s leading English speaking Iranian cleric, leads the 1500-member Imam Husain Islamic Centre in Earlwood and is the elected head of the local Interfaith Committee.

He has been denied permanent residency in Australia due to two adverse security assessments issued by ASIO several years ago. He has been fighting for 10 years to have these assessments overturned but  an immigration appeals tribunal last month rejected his final application to remain in Australia.

Dr Leghaei strenuously denies that he is a threat to national security.
Community leaders say he has never been told the reason for the assessments and has repeatedly been denied procedural fairness and natural justice.

“I can vouch for the fact that Dr Leghaei is no threat to national security. We call on the Minister to order a new security assessment and enable the sheikh’s important work to continue,” Father Smith said.

www.savethesheikh.com

Christian Save the Sheikh Coalition spokesperson: Father Dave Smith 61-2-9569-1255