The Muslim Community Reference Group is considering writing to Prime Minister John Howard asking the government to reconsider its listing of the militant arm of Hezbollah as a terrorist organisation.
The group is meeting tomorrow and will decide whether to put the
demand to Mr Howard.
But Mr Howard made it clear today the government had no intention of removing the militant arm of Hezbollah from its official list of terrorist organisations.
"No chance, full stop. No chance at all (of removing Hezbollah from the list)," Mr Howard told reporters.
Attorney-General Philip Ruddock said the decision to ban Hezbollah, which was first listed in 2003, had not been made lightly.
"They're not decisions which are political," he said.
However, the government would be willing to consider new information which may cause it to reassess the listing.
"Obviously we look at these issues from time to time to see whether circumstances change," Mr Ruddock said.
"I'm not aware of any information that would suggest we should reconsider proscription of the military wing of Hezbollah."
But Ameer Ali, chairman of the Muslim advisory group set up last year in the wake of the London terrorist bombings, says Hezbollah should not be lumped in with groups like al-Qaeda.
"They should not condemn Hezbollah as a terrorist group," he told AAP. "I don't think they should judge that they are simply a terrorist organisation like al-Qaeda.
"It is part of Lebanese politics."
Dr Ali believes the government's assessment of Hezbollah is clouded by the US and Israel.
"We are of the opinion that the Australian government does not have an independent foreign policy with regard to the Middle East," he told ABC Radio.
"We go along with whatever the Americans say and the Americans go along with whatever the Israeli lobby says."
Meanwhile Mr Ruddock has warned that Australians risk heavy penalties if they are caught funding the military wing of Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Mr Ruddock said members of Australia's large Lebanese community had approached his department in recent days for advice on what organisations they could donate money to, as the Israeli offensive in Lebanon continues.
"Funding proscribed organisations is a severe offence under the law and if anyone were to be funding the military wing of Hezbollah they would be committing a serious offence," Mr Ruddock said.
Hezbollah's armed wing, or "external security organisation", was listed in Australia in 2003 as a terrorist organisation and relisted in 2005, but its political wing is not.