Dr Anne Aly.
By Peter Kelly
OMAGH bomb victims have offered “hearty congratulations” to prominent supporter Dr Anne Aly, who was recently elected to the Australian parliament in a dramatic cliffhanger vote.
The Egyptian-born Australian counter-terrorism expert visited the Omagh Support and Self Help Group at their Campsie offices in July 2014 as part of a fact-finding tour of Northern Ireland.
Professor Aly, now MP for the Perth seat of Cowan, advises the Bali bomb victims group, made up of survivors of the 2002 terrorist attack.
The Indonesia blast claimed 88 Australian lives among the 202 fatalities, and survivors are in contact with their Omagh counterparts.
They include motivation speaker Phil Britten, who was badly injured in the attack and now leads conferences worldwide in self improvement.
Dr Aly founded the campaign group People Against Violent Extremism which seeks to turn people away from recruitment to extremist groups including ISIS, Islamic State and al-Qaeda.
With echoes of the local Fermanagh-South Tyrone electoral contest, the nail-biting Australian election saw Dr Aly defeat a right-wing incumbent MP by a margin of one per-cent for the Australian Labor Party.
The result was only declared after weeks of dramatic recounts and painstaking postal vote cliffhangers.
Omagh victims’ spokesperson Michael Gallagher said, “We’re delighted for Anne and her supporters, and send international well-wishes from Northern Ireland.
“Not only will the people of Perth have a champion in their corner, but parliament will be better informed on counter-terrorism issues by her being there.”
The academic is the country’s first female Muslim MP and has received numerous threats from extremist groups during her campaigns to dissuade vulnerable individuals to join radicalised cells.
She has been invited to the White House on two occasions to share her ideas, as well as conferences featuring the UN Secretary General.
Dr Aly published articles following her visit to Omagh, admiring families for their resilience against the Real IRA and praising the survivors’ continuing determination to achieve justice and healing.
Michael Gallagher added, “Parliament and politics need people like Anne Aly. She has first hand experience of counter terrorism and a lifelong interest and expertise.
“Her ideas are sophisticated and not simplistic. And her input into lawmaking will be a benefit to all.”
Reverend Karen Dickman of the Washington DC-based IMTD diplomacy institute, accompanied Dr Aly on the Omagh visit and sent similar congratulations.
The Washington organisation, chaired by former US Ambassador John McDonald was among international supporters who sent condolences to Omagh last week as victims prepared for Sunday’s Memorial Service to mark the 18th anniversary of the Market Street blast.
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