On September 22, 2005 The Australian reported, "The Howard Government has promised to put safeguards into its new anti-terrorism laws to ensure Muslims were not unfairly targeted for scrutiny. The promise was made at a meeting between Muslim leaders and Multicultural Affairs Minister John Cobb in Sydney yesterday. The meeting also decided that the Muslim community would help create a crisis plan to stop a community backlash in the event of a terrorist attack. Mr Cobb acknowledged the recent London bombings had increased resentment of Muslims in Australia. Australian Federation of Islamic Councils president Ameer Ali said there had been concerns at the meeting that the new federal terrorism laws could be abused and Muslims targeted. He said the federal Government had assured the meeting that when the laws were drafted safeguards would be put in place."

This article cross-posted at the Pluralism Project's International Religious Diversity News.