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| Europe | |
| Austrian Muslim soldiers to get imams | |
| 2006-03-19 | |
| The approximately 1 000 Muslim conscripts in the Austrian army are to get their own imams, according to plans by defence minister Guenther Platter. Quoted in the weekend edition of the newspaper Die Presse, he pointed out that an average of 3.5% of army recruits were Muslims. Seeing there were already Catholic and Protestant military chaplains, Islam must be put on an equal footing with the other officially-recognised religions in Austria, he said. The paper said Platter's initiative came after problems involving strictly-religious Muslims of Austrian nationality conscripted into the army. In a recent incident some of them refused to salute the Austrian flag. At a monthly parade, "when the Austrian flag was raised, the Muslims turned away and demonstratively turned their backs on the flag", an army trainer was quoted as saying. To the surprise of the officers, the Muslims said the flag was incompatible with their religion. They could not subordinate themselves to the flag, and would not salute it in future, it was reported. No disciplinary action was taken, however, and the Muslim soldiers were allowed to miss the flag parade. "That caused annoyance among the troops," said an officer.
President of the Islamic Community in Austria, Anas Schakfeh, was called in as a mediator. He made it clear that Austrian flags did not violate religious principles, he told Die Presse. The military command was at pains to stress that it had been an isolated occurrence, and otherwise there was exemplary co-existence. However, trainers at Vienna Maria Theresia Barracks complained that Muslim soldiers were often absent from duty, and could only be used for simple tasks in basic training. A non-commissioned officer said many had the impression that soldiers classified as "strictly religious Muslims" exploited their position. For instance, they had to be relieved of duty for prayers. The military command pointed out that anyone absent from duty had to make the time up later. For instance, Islamic soldiers going to prayers on Friday midday and missing the rest of the day had to turn up instead on Saturday. "They're often called in for Saturday or Sunday duty," said a spokesperson. But non-commissioned officers, who did not want to be named, claimed it was too easy for soldiers to get a certificate from the Islamic Community classifying them as a "strictly-religious Muslim". One said: "Some of the strictly-religious drink alcohol, eat pork, and we've also tested Muslims positive for drugs." Schakfeh conceded there were possibly individual "black sheep", but said that most kept to the rules. In cases of violations, the certificate was immediately withdrawn. | |
| Posted by:lotp |
| #10 |
| Posted by: USN Ret. 2006-03-19 23:20 |
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| Posted by: lotp 2006-03-19 22:01 |
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| Posted by: Robert Crawford 2006-03-19 21:45 |
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| Posted by: djohn66 2006-03-19 20:14 |
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| Posted by: lotp 2006-03-19 20:12 |
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| Posted by: Frank G 2006-03-19 20:08 |
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| Posted by: SOP35/Rat 2006-03-19 20:08 |
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| Posted by: Griper Phulet7709 2006-03-19 18:35 |
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| Posted by: Rafael 2006-03-19 18:30 |
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| Posted by: Griper Phulet7709 2006-03-19 17:13 |