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Two men have been arrested after anti-Islam and anti-Racism protestors converged on Sydney's Cronulla beach surrounded by huge numbers of police. In the wake of Saturday's rallies the local mayor has warned troublemakers to stay away. Right-wing associates of the Party for Freedom gathered around a pig on a spit at Cronulla for a 'halal-free' barbecue to mark the violent, race-fueled riots at the popular beach in 2005...... Australian and Southern Cross flags were hoisted above the crowd and heavily tattooed men wore cut-off flannelette shirts and singlets emblazoned with logos such as 'love it or leave'. Others carried anti-Sharia...

Winter came early to Cronulla and its chill is spreading, writes Paul Sheehan. About 100 teenagers were at a house in Clump Place, Green Valley, on Saturday night last week. Several adults kept an eye on proceedings. At 9 o'clock came the beginning of the nightmare dreaded by anyone who holds a big party - several carloads of uninvited young men arrived and wanted in. Most of the guests assembled at the front of the house to watch the verbal confrontation unfold. The unwanted visitors, described by numerous witnesses as appearing to be Lebanese, withdrew but certain things were said...

POLICE are unfairly criticising the Muslim community for not doing enough to track down those responsible for retaliatory attacks following the Cronulla riot, community leader Keysar Trad said. Detective Superintendent Ken McKay yesterday released photos and footage of those involved in the riot at Sydney's Cronulla and the revenge attacks that followed, in the hope offenders will be caught. But he told ABC radio today there had been little response to a video showing a number of Middle Eastern men throwing projectiles at passing cars. "The members of the Middle Eastern community need to understand if they want live in...

The former US President Bill Clinton says dialogue is the best way to resolve the underlying tensions which led to racially motivated riots in Cronulla two months ago. Mr Clinton spoke on a number of controversial topics during his visit to Sydney today. He addressed 700 people who paid almost $2,500 each to hear him at a business conference. Mr Clinton had this advice about moving forward after the Cronulla riots: "Get people together and talk beyond the superficial and to really have contact, and find out they have more in common that what separates them," he said. He also...

PRIME Minister John Howard has backed NSW Opposition Leader Peter Debnam amid Labor criticism of the state Liberal leader's comments on ethnic crime. Mr Debnam has criticised the failure by police to arrest people of Middle Eastern descent who carried out revenge attacks after the Cronulla Beach riot on NSW Premier Morris Iemma has accused Mr Debnam of setting a bad example for the community by showing no respect for police. But Mr Howard today defended Mr Debnam. "I am not going to buy into what's the cut and thrust of state politics in NSW except to observe the leader...

THE head of Strike Force Enoggera, set up to investigate the Cronulla race riot, has been stood aside following claims police failed to arrest those responsible for revenge attacks. The sidelining of acting Detective Superintendent Dennis Bray, announced today by NSW Police Commissioner Ken Moroney, comes after public anger at the failure by police to release video footage of a man being bashed by a gang of Middle-Eastern youths. Mr Moroney said he was unhappy Supt Bray had not released the footage earlier, and a replacement commander would take the helm of Enoggera. "Clearly, there was material there that he...

Chilling call to arms via SMS December 19, 2005TEXT messages on seized mobile phones have revealed calls for Arabs to unite in a war against "rednecks" and to "take Sydney from Cronulla to The Rocks".Police yesterday used new powers to confiscate mobile phones, to check for SMS messages calling for violence. Police Commissioner Ken Moroney said his officers were yesterday specially instructed to target mobile phones, after text messages were used to urge race violence at Cronulla. One officer was photographed scrolling through the contents of at least six phones. Five men of Middle Eastern descent were yesterday arrested in...

LAST Sunday on Cronulla Beach, a suburb of Sydney, thousands of drunken white youths attacked anyone they believed was of Arab descent. Inspired by reports that Lebanese-Australians had assaulted two white lifeguards, text messages calling for a Lebanese "bashing day" appeared on thousands of cellphones. Some of Sunday's assailants wore T-shirts that proclaimed, "We grew here; you flew here," or, "Ethnic cleansing unit." For many, the Cronulla Beach incident did not come as a surprise. Rather, it was the bubbling up of an undercurrent that is increasingly evident in Australian life.

Please act to stop any attacks on Christians by these gangs of these reported Muslim thugs in Australia. Please read this years world report from www.aidtochurch.org . I am sure now Australia will be in this world report and will receive a lot of bad press for the first time due to the recent attacks in Sydney on Christians and their places of worship. It should be of concern that reported Muslim radicals are now targeting Christians and Australians in Australia from the last few days of attacks on Churches and people etc. It is starting to scare most of...

SOME are hunkering down to brave out the nights of terror. For others the rioting, baseball bats and fear of rape and murder have proved too much to bear. But life won't be the same for anyone living in the one-time beachside idyll of Cronulla. Already some families are packing their bags - the first refugees of Sydney's ugliest race attacks. Those who are staying are living in fear of where the next wave of attacks will occur. Construction worker Howard Beale, whose family survived a frightening raid by youths of Middle Eastern descent on Monday night, is at breaking...

SYDNEY, Australia (AP) -- Violence on the streets of Sydney spilled into a second night Monday, as scores of youths drove through beachside suburbs smashing windows of stores, homes and apartments, police said. Any hopes that a race riot Sunday would be an isolated incident were shattered after dark when car loads of youths rampaged through southeastern Sydney chased by hundreds of police vehicles and a helicopter. A police spokesman said the violence first broke out in Cronulla, where Sunday's riots also started.

A police media spokesman confirmed there had been problems at Maroubra beach, following the near-riot at Cronulla beach earlier today. "There have been a number of incidents of property damage in the past hour-and-a-half that included broken windows and damage to motor vehicles," he said. Reports on radio station 2GB indicated up to 50 vehicles with passengers armed with "baseball bats" had been causing trouble in Maroubra, in Sydney's east. Police have set up a command post in the area, 2GB reported. Sky News reported that a group of people in cars and with baseball bats, bits of wood and...

After weeks of tension, attack on two lifeguards by Lebanese youths triggers race riot TENSIONS between young white gangs and youths of mainly Middle Eastern origin erupted on one of Australia’s most popular beaches yesterday in what police condemned as a racially motivated rally driven by a mob mentality. Thousands of people, many chanting racial slurs, were engaged in running battles on Cronulla Beach in Sydney’s southern suburbs. At least 13 people were hurt, including five police, and 12 were arrested during the clashes, which followed a week of mounting anger over an attack on two lifeguards who were beaten...