Muslims, surfers work for Aussie peace

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SYDNEY, Australia -- A Muslim cleric in a gray robe and white skullcap sits down with a youth in a baseball cap and shorts for talks on cooling tensions. Lebanese members of a motorcycle gang and a group of surfers agree that both sides need to calm down.

Some unlikely alliances are being formed to try to head off any escalation in the ugly fighting on beaches near Sydney this week that exposed racial divides and tarnished Australians' self-image as a nation of laid-back, sun-kissed beachgoers.

The clashes, some of the worst ethnic violence in Australia in decades, are motivated more by ethnicity than religion. Only about 300,000 Muslims live among Australia's 20 million people, and many Middle Easterners here are Christian.

[An emergency session of the state legislature passed special legislation yesterday allowing Sydney police to "lock down" parts of the city to stop unrest, Reuters news agency reported. The New South Wales Parliament also increased the penalty for rioting from 10 to 15 years in prison, and doubled the sentence for "affray," or brawling, to 10 years.

["Louts and criminals have effectively declared war on our society, and we are not going to let them undermine our way of life," Reuters quoted state Premier Morris Iemma as telling the State Parliament.]

Tensions have risen in recent weeks along with summer temperatures, drawing more casual visitors to beaches frequented mostly by locals and die-hard surfers in the off season.

On Dec. 4, a group of youths of Arabic appearance beat two lifeguards on the beach in the blue-collar suburb of Cronulla after an argument during which both sides hurled insults.

Beer, slogans and strife

On Sunday, a week after the beatings, hundreds of whites flooded the area to "reclaim" the beach. After hours of drinking beer and shouting slogans, some whites starting beating up people who they thought looked Middle Eastern, setting off a riot that police quelled with clubs, dogs and pepper spray.

More clashes followed Monday. Bands of youths who appeared to be Arabic rampaged through suburbs breaking windows in stores, houses and cars. Nearly 40 people were injured and 27 were arrested over both days.