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SYDNEY - Muslim youth leader Iktimal Hage-Ali has relinquished the title of New South Wales Young Australian of the Year following controversy surrounding her arrest over an alleged drug ring.
Hage-Ali, 22, who is a member of Prime Minister John Howard's Muslim Community Reference Group, was questioned and then released by Middle Eastern Organised Crime Squad detectives investigating an alleged cocaine supply ring. She has not been charged and says she is innocent.
Hage-Ali, who also took leave from her job at the NSW Attorney-General's Department, said she had decided to relinquish her title because her position was no longer tenable. She is no longer in the running to be named Young Australian of the Year.
- AAP
