CANBERRA, September 8, 2005 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) – Australian Premier John Howard announced Thursday, September 8, new anti-terror laws, drawing immediate rebuke from the Muslim minority and human rights organizations.

"We are, unfortunately, living in an era and time when unusual but necessary measures are needed to cope with an unusual and threatening situation," Reuters quoted Howard as telling reporters.

Terror suspects could be fitted with tracking devices under the new laws which would also make inciting violence a crime.

Under the new laws, the Australian Federal Police will be given the power to hold people for 48 hours. At present, only people being questioned by intelligence agencies can be held for extended periods without charge.

Howard said that the intelligence would be given more rights to monitor people's movements and conversations.

Asked whether Muslim imams could be deported under the new legislation, he said "people who are dual citizens do run the risk of being deprived of their Australian citizenship if they break a relevant Australian law."

The premier added that the period of waiting for citizenship approval would be increased from two to three years, with extended security checks "so that citizenship applications can be refused on security grounds."

He, however, denied the new measures were "creating a quasi-police state."

"They're not going to help prevent any terrorist activities," said Mehboob.

The new tough laws drew immediate criticism from the Muslim minority, estimated at 300,000.

"They're not going to help prevent any terrorist activities -- people will simply go underground and do their thing and we don't want that to happen," Amjad Ali Mehboob, chief executive officer of the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils, told Reuters.

He underlined that some Muslims already believe they are treated unfairly and says the result will be more police checks on Muslim people, reported the ABC broadcaster.

"When we know already that it's the young Muslim youth who are the subject of a lot of this attention and targeting and undoubtedly where random checks are being made that they would be the ones to cop it."

Australian Muslims are preparing for an all-inclusive meeting to consider a plan of self-policing young Muslims in the country.

Following the July 7 terrorist attacks in London, Australia has been contemplating tougher anti-terror legislation.

Mehboob said Australian Muslims "have already extended the hand of cooperation with the government and authorities to work towards ensuring there will be no act of terrorism or violence in Australia."

Howard has recently defended his government's right to send people into mosques and Islamic schools under the pretext of fighting terrorism.

The remarks came one day after the premier met with 13 leaders of the Muslim minority in Australia, who pledged to defend the country against "terrorism."

"They're extreme (and) could mean people engaged in legitimate political debate are caught up in the sweep," O'Gorman said.

Civil rights advocates condemned the changes and said the new laws could lead to people facing indefinite detention without charge, and could see people forced to wear electronic tracking bracelets, similar to those worn by prisoners on home detention.

"These are the sort of measures you see in regimes like apartheid South Africa, and are not the sort of things you should see in a free and democratic nation," said Cameron Murphy, a council for the Australian Council for Civil Liberties.

"This raft of reforms is about removing any justice process and putting in place a system of administrative punishments.

"It could become a revolving door, where people could be held for 14 days, be released and then held for another 14 days," he added.

The council's president, Terry O'Gorman, said many of the measures were too far.

"They're extreme (and) could mean people engaged in legitimate political debate are caught up in the sweep," he said.