Christians Under Attack

others "of Middle Eastern appearance" in parts of Australia's largest city.

But while he condemned the fighting as "sickening," Prime Minister John Howard said Monday the "racism" tag was often thrown around carelessly and he would not do so.

He warned against "wallow[ing] in generalized self-criticism," and attributed the violence to "the always explosive combination of a large number of people at the weekend and a large amount of alcohol."

Howard also rejected suggestions that his government's warnings about the dangers of terrorism emerging from within Australia's Muslim community had fueled the clashes.

"Everything this government's said about home-grown terrorism has been totally justified," he told a news conference in Sydney. "It is a potential threat."

"To suggest that one should remain silent ... because that might antagonize someone else is a complete failure of leadership."

Howard's government has been outspoken about the potential threat of terrorist attacks being planned by Australian Muslims, and recently pushed through new anti-terror legislation.

Sunday's violence in Sydney broke out after weeks of growing tensions, sparked by an earlier attack on two lifeguards at the city's southern suburban Cronulla beach, reportedly by a gang of youngsters of Lebanese origin.

The assault brought to the surface simmering tensions about continuing loutish behavior in Cronulla by groups of people described as being of Mideast background, and a mobile phone text message campaign was launched urging locals to "protect" their beach at the weekend.

Thousands of people turned up on Sunday for a demonstration of solidarity, some of them sporting Australian flags. Members of ultra-nationalist groups handed out pamphlets questioning Australian immigration policies.

As the intake of alcohol increased, trouble broke out, police said.

At least 31 people were hurt during the day and into the night in Cronulla and surrounding suburbs, both as groups of whites attacked people of Arab appearance, and vice versa.

Police used batons, pepper spray and dogs to curtail the violence and were also attacked on several occasions, as were members of an ambulance crew. Sixteen people were arrested.

The New South Wales state government Monday announced new laws would be put in place to allow police to conduct random searches for weapons. It was also setting up of a special taskforce to examine police photos and video footage in a bid to identify and track down instigators of the rioting.

State Premier Morris Iemma condemned Sunday's clashes as well as the earlier assaults that triggered the clashes, calling the behavior "un-Australian."

Earlier he criticized some of those involved for their use of the national flag.

"These hooligans have brought shame upon themselves. Some today tried to hide behind the Australian flag. The Australia that I know -- and intend to preserve as premier -- does not support the sort of behavior that we saw today."

Australian Arabic Council chairman Roland Jabbour accused politicians and media organizations of "fanning the flames of racial tension" for some time. He complained about the use by police of the descriptive term "Middle Eastern appearance," and about what he called "racial and stereotyping slurs" by media.

Muslims comprise about two percent of Australia's 20.4 million population, with the largest communities originating in Lebanon, Turkey and Afghanistan, according to 2001 census figures.