Media Release
In the Name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful Expulsion of Syrian Officials Hypocritical and Meaningless

Foreign Minister Bob Carr expelled the Syrian Chargé earlier this week in response to the Houla massacre. Senator Carr said the decision was an easy one after seeing the footage and photos emerge out of Houla. The Federal Opposition supported the expulsion, with Julie Bishop, Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs, saying, "The most recent mass killing of civilians including children is an affront to humanity and the strongest possible message of condemnation must be sent to the regime."

Uthman Badar, media representative of Hizb ut-Tahrir Australia, said in this regard,

"The pretence here from Australian officials is blatant. The uprising in Syria, brutally suppressed by the Syrian regime, is now well over a year old. Tens of thousands have been killed in massacre after massacre. Kidnappings, torture and summary executions have been constant. Tanks and artillery have been used against civilians. Did Senator Carr not see the footage and photos of all these? It has taken the Australian Government over a year to take a simple and merely symbolic action as expelling Syrian representatives in Australia. No one is fooled by such a move which is too little and too late."

"Whist two diplomats have been expelled, the Syrian Embassy remains open, which means the Australian Government still maintains diplomatic ties with the Butcher of Syria and his barbaric regime."

"The hypocrisy of the Australian position is also revealed in the fact that the Australian Government still has diplomatic, economic, and military ties with dictatorial regimes in the Middle East, Asia and Africa. One on the hand the Australian Government claims to be on the side of the people in their uprising against tyranny - a tyranny it supported when it was at its strongest - yet on the other hand it is maintaining and furthering ties with tyrants in the Muslim World."

Ends.

  Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir in Australia

Contact: Uthman Badar, Media Representative, on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 0438 000 465.