DenverPost.com - Racial tensions fuel 2nd day of rioting in shocked Sydney

Rumors of a racial attack on lifeguards led to 5,000 white Australians attacking people of Mideastern descent on the beach Sunday. Young Arabs retaliated. Violence spilled into a second night Monday as scores of youths drove through predominantly white suburbs of Sydney, smashing windows of cars, homes and stores and raising fears of spreading racial unrest. Prime Minister John Howard called the violence "sickening" but denied it was rooted in racism. Arab community leaders said the unrest would heighten racial tensions as cellphone text messages warned of retribution by the Arab community and attacks by neo-Nazi groups. About 5,000 white men, many of them drunk, targeted people believed to be of Arab or Middle Eastern descent on Cronulla Beach on Sunday after rumors spread that Lebanese youths assaulted two lifeguards earlier this month. Police have denied that the assault on the lifeguards was racially motivated. siehe auch: Racial tension brings mounting violence in Australia, Racial violence continues in Australia, Crowd agitators linked to neo-nazis. EXTREMIST groups accused of links to neo-Nazis have admitted mobilising more than 100 people to attend the riots in Cronulla. Jim Saleam, the New South Wales secretary of ultra-nationalist group Australia First, said his members had recruited up to 120 people for the rally but denied they were involved in violence. (...) Skinheads wearing boots, braces and neo-Nazi emblems were among the mob of 5000. Three far-right organisations -- Australia First, The Patriotic Youth League and the Newcastle-based Blood and Honour -- handed out pamphlets