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Australian police get power to demand removal of burqas

SYDNEY: Police in the Australian state of New South Wales have been handed broad-based powers to demand the removal of burqas and other face veils so they can identify people suspected of committing a crime.
The state government approved the move late Monday after the recent case of a Muslim woman who was acquitted when a judge decided she could not be identified because was wearing a burqa.
“I don’t care whether a person is wearing a motorcycle helmet, a burqa, niqab, face veil or anything else, the police should be allowed to require those people to make their identification clear,” Premier Barry O’Farrell said.
The move follows the high-profile case of Carnita Matthews, who in November 2010 was sentenced to six months jail for falsely accusing police of forcibly trying to remove her burqa when she was stopped for a traffic offence.
Her sentence was quashed last month when a magistrate said he could not be 100 per cent sure it was Matthews who made the complaint because officers were not able to see the face of the accuser.
New South Wales State Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione demanded a clarification of the law and O’Farrell said the new powers should help prevent a recurrence of such cases in the future.
“I have every respect for various religions and beliefs but when it comes to enforcing the law the police should be given adequate powers to make a clear identification,” said O’Farrell.
Police previously had the power to ask women to remove face veils during the investigation of serious offences, but not on more routine matters.

Australian PM in Afghan pledge after troop death

SYDNEY: Prime Minister Julia Gillard insisted Tuesday that progress was being made in Afghanistan despite the death of another Australian soldier during an encounter with insurgents.
Sergeant Todd Langley, 35, was serving with a special operations task group when he was shot in the head on Monday during a mission with troops from the Afghan National Army to clear a weapons cache.
“He died on the battlefield from his wounds,” said General David Hurley, who only assumed his role as chief of the defence force on Monday following the retirement of Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston.
A second soldier was wounded in the same incident, in the south of the country, and is in a serious condition.
The death brings to 28 the number of Australians killed in the conflict since 2001 – seven of them this year.
“Twenty-eight Australians have been killed in action in Afghanistan and these men are not numbers. They are fathers, husbands, sons, brothers and mates,” Hurley said.
He added that Langley, from the Sydney-based 2nd Commando regiment, was on his fifth deployment to Afghanistan and described him as an exceptionally experienced and decorated soldier.
“He was a brave and professional soldier who never took a backward step and, despite their grief, his comrades say he will continue to inspire them,” he said.
Australia, a key coalition partner, has around 1,500 personnel in Afghanistan, mostly in Uruzgan province.
The United States will bring 33,000 troops home by the end of next year as part of a phased withdrawal.
But Gillard said Australian forces in Afghanistan would remain at their current levels until 2014, when they plan to hand over security to the leadership of local Afghan forces.
“These are tough days for our nation in Afghanistan… and there will be tough days to come,” she said.
“Our mission is clear, our timeline is clear and we are making progress.”