Australia denies Muslim request for sharia law
![Muslims pray at Lakemba Mosque in Sydney. [ABC]](http://www.abc.net.au/reslib/201104/r747694_6172060.jpg "Muslims pray at Lakemba Mosque in Sydney. [ABC]")
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Muslims pray at Lakemba Mosque in Sydney. [ABC]
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The Australian government has rejected a call from a leading Muslim group for the introduction of a non-extremist version of sharia law.
In a submission to a parliamentary inquiry into a new policy on multiculturalism, the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils had urged the government to consider "legal pluralism" for Muslims.
But AFP reports Australia's attorney-general, Robert McClelland, has ruled out any such change and says local laws would always win in any clash of cultural values.
In its submission, the Federation said while some Muslims saw sharia law as immutable, others argued it could be amended to respond to social change.
But McClelland says people who migrate to Australia do so because it is a free, open and tolerant society where men and woman are equal before the law irrespective of race, religious or cultural background.
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