Aussie cleric hates bloodshed but praises Osama

An Algerian-Australian cleric, who is against the killing of innocent people but openly praises Osama bin Laden, has said it would be acceptable under Islamic law for his followers to fight coalition forces in Iraq.

Abdul Nacker Ben Brika, known as Abu Bakr, told the Australian Broadcasting Corp late Thursday that he would be violating his faith if he warned his students not to join the jihad or holy war, in Iraq.

"Jihad is part of my religion," Abu Bakr said. "What you have to understand is that anyone who fights on behalf of Allah, when he dies, the first drop of blood that comes out, all of his sins will be forgiven," he said.

Abu Bakr, who leads a fundamentalist Islamic group in the southern city of Melbourne where he has lived since 1989, also told the ABC that although he was against the killing of innocents, he could not discourage his students from travelling to Afghanistan or Pakistan to train in terrorist camps.

"It will have nothing to do with me," the dual Australian and Algerian citizen said. "Myself, I tell them what Allah said." A number of Abu Bakr's students have attended militant training camps in central Asia and one unidentified follower was now facing serious terrorism charges, the ABC reported.

Australian Prime Minister John Howard, who is expected to announce tighter counter-terrorism laws in the next few days, said Abu Bakr's suggestion that he could not preach against Islamic law has no place in Australian society.