EXCLUSIVE: Paul Maley and Drew Warne-Smith | July 17
THE federal Attorney-General, Robert McClelland, supplied a glowing character reference for a Sydney sheik accused of spying for Iran just months after learning ASIO had rejected his residency application on national security grounds.
The Australian can reveal that Mr McClelland wrote two character references in 1997 for controversial Iranian cleric Mansour Leghaei, who is accused by ASIO of engaging in "specific acts of foreign interference".
Sheik Leghaei has been fighting to stay in Australia for more than a decade, despite ASIO issuing two adverse security assessments against him.
However, The Australian has been told the assessment may be reviewed, a move that would pave the way for a fresh visa.
When he was appointed Attorney-General in 2007, Mr McClelland said he disclosed the first reference written on Sheik Leghaei's behalf to the "relevant agencies" within his portfolio. But he has refused to say whether he disclosed the second reference, in which he expressed "surprise" at ASIO's findings and vouched for Sheik Leghaei's good character.
Mr McClelland's second reference is likely to become an issue for him if ASIO, which falls under his portfolio, is required to review its assessment of Sheik Leghaei.
News of the references comes amid claims that a prominent local leader met Mr McClelland and fellow Rudd government minister Anthony Albanese to plead on Sheik Leghaei's behalf in the months immediately after Labor took office.
Last night, a spokesman for Mr McClelland confirmed that when he was an opposition backbencher, he had written two references for Sheik Leghaei, who was a local constituent and a preacher in his electorate.
The spokesman said Mr McClelland was not privy to the content of security assessments about Sheik Leghaei at the time. "Upon his appointment as Attorney-General, Mr McClelland disclosed the contents of the reference to relevant agencies within his portfolio," he said.
However, the spokesman refused to say which reference the minister had disclosed. Nor did he address Mr McClelland's expression of surprise in the second reference about ASIO's finding, in his residency application, that the sheik was a threat to national security.
Source: The Australian
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