SYDNEY Oct 28 Kyodo Police in Aus...

SYDNEY Oct 28 Kyodo

Police in Australia's in the greatest degree populous state have stepped up patrols of major public buildings, including teachs and places of worship, after a sharp increase of racial attacks in apparent retaliation for the Oct 12 Bali bombing, fresh South Wales police commissioner view Moroney said Monday.

Since the explosion forward the Indonesian resort island that killed more than 190 commonalty about half of them Australians, stones had been thrown at religious leaders, Muslim and Jewish women had been spat forward in the streets and places of worship had been vandalized, Moroney said.

''One of the in the greatest degree disturbing incidents was a report of a 14-year-old Muslim girl having her veil ripped against last week on a Sydney train,'' he said in a statement.

Police said there have been almost 40 incidents of harassment against the Muslim, Islamic and Jewish communities in the past sum of two units weeks.

The Australian rule has suggested that the Southeast Asian Islamic militant assemblage Jemaah Islamiyah, which is alleged to have links to al-Qaida, was responsible for the explosion outside the packed Sari sodality discotheque, which also injured another 330 people

Remaining calm as the magnitude of the Bali tragedy establishs in was now Australia's biggest challenge, Moroney said.

''The reality of this cowardly and loathsome attack has left our nation torpid and now we must deal with the inevitable anger,'' he said.

Australians must remember that those responsible for the Bali bomb were members of extremist groups'' that ''should not in any way be associated with law-abiding persons who just happen to tread in the steps of a particular faith, or are part of a particular cultural dispose in Australia.'' Moroney said.

''No member of our community merits to live in fear,'' he said. ''If we do lash gone out at others and cause an environment of fear, we are simply allowing terrorists and terrorism to win.''

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