Muslim Leaders open up to fight gun violence

MIDDLE Eastern community leaders in Sydney have welcomed a call from police for greater co-operation in the face of the city's escalating gun violence.

While senior NSW police stressed they were working with all ethnic groups in the city's west, where most of the attacks took place, Middle Eastern leaders said their communities had in the past closed ranks against police.

"I think the community does need to take responsibility," said Australian Muslim Women's Association president Silma Ihram.

"We're not really stepping up to the mark as Australian citizens. People tend to act defensively and close ranks even when they see something that's wrong, and that's not helpful to anybody."

Police investigating the shootings, which have claimed six lives in the past four months, say the wall of silence they have previously encountered is beginning to break down.

In the past week, the force has mounted rolling raids, flooding areas of western Sydney with hundreds of officers, targeting those said to be linked to the shootings and the city's gun trade.

Much, but not all, of this criminal activity is believed to have links to loose family networks of Middle Eastern descent.

Australian Lebanese Foundation president Fadia Ghossayn, said: "Why do we have to destroy what this beautiful country gave everyone? So I don't see why we should not co-operate with police."

NSW Police Acting Organised Crime director Arthur Katsogiannis said the community in western Sydney "are our eyes and ears and... their information is just as important as the evidence collated by our investigators... We are starting to slowly see the community coming on board".

Western Sydney community activist Jamal Daoud also welcomed the call for greater co-operation, but said this would rely on both sides working to improve their relationship. "At the moment, the police, their position in the community is not very good and this is why the local community are not trusting the police to help them," he said.

A spokeswoman for federal Justice Minister Jason Clare, who has been asked to lead his government's response, said the minister would publish details of this approach in coming weeks.