Muslim Council of Britain Denounces Terrorist Attacks in New Zealand

The Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) categorically condemned the twin terrorist attacks in New Zealand which claimed the lives of at least 49 worshippers and injured more than 50.

News ID: 443942

Date: 16 March 2019 - 19:14

RNA - “This is the most deadly Islamophobic terrorist attack we have witnessed in recent times. It would seem that Brenton Tarrant’s murderous intention was to target Muslims at their places of worship and on their sacred day. Reports suggested the attacker is on record spouting hate against Muslims and other minority communities,” said MCB Secretary General Harun Khan, in a statement expressing condolences to the bereaved families of the victims of the twin deadly attacks.

“My condolences to the families affected. As the rest of us prepare to undertake our own Friday prayers today, we do so with the anxiety as to whether our mosques and communities are safe in the face of unabated Islamophobia and hostility against Muslims,” he added urging the British government to redouble its efforts to ensure mosques are protected.

Harun Khan also said, “Islamophobic terrorist attacks are not new. In 2017, there was a shooting which saw six worshippers were killed at a mosque in Quebec, Canada. In Minnesota, USA, a mosque was firebombed.”

Elsewhere in the statement, the MCB referred to All-Party Parliamentary Groups (APPGs) earlier act to publish definition of Islamophobia based on an extensive consultations and hundreds of case studies, saying, “We ask why the UK Government has not taken the recommendations of the APPG seriously, and when it will formally adopt a definition of Islamophobia?”

Also on Friday, the member states of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), in a statement, unanimously and categorically denounced the twin terrorist assaults on two mosques in New Zealand, describing them as heinous and cowardly attacks.

In the statement, the UNSC member states condemned in the strongest terms the heinous and cowardly terrorist attack that took place at Al Noor Mosque and Linwood Mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand.

“The members of the Security Council expressed their deepest sympathy and condolences to the families of the victims and to the Government of New Zealand and they wished a speedy and full recovery to those who were injured,” the statement read.

It added, “The members of the Security Council reaffirmed that terrorism in all its forms and manifestations constitutes one of the most serious threats to international peace and security.”

Underlining the need to hold perpetrators, organizers, financiers and sponsors of these reprehensible acts of terrorism accountable and bringing them to justice, the UNSC members urged all States, in accordance with their obligations under international law and relevant Security Council resolutions, to cooperate actively with the Government of the New Zealand and all other relevant authorities in this regard.

Also, hours after the attacks, a deluge of condemnation came from all over the world, including by the Lebanese Hezbollah, the UN Secretary General António Guterres, EU Foreign Policy chief Federica Mogherini, Head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State Pope Francis, the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB), Turkey, Qatar, Jordan, Iraq, the UAE and Bahrain.

In a related front, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani condemned the Friday massacre of Muslim people in New Zealand, and called for international campaign against the Islamophobia which he said is unfortunately fueled by certain Western governments.

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