'Outdated rhetoric': Australia's Grand Mufti responds to Fraser Anning

Australia's top Muslim cleric has slammed comments made by Katter Australia Party's Fraser Anning as 'racist and reckless', after the senator used his maiden speech in Parliament to call for an end to "Muslim immigration".

Seneta Fraser Anning akitoa hotuba yake ya kwanza, na kiongozi wa waislamu wa Australia Dkt. Ibrahim Abu Mohamad achangia katika ukosoaji wa hotuba hiyo. Source: AAP

The Grand Mufti of Australia Dr Ibrahim Abu Mohammed says Senator Fraser Anning’s call to stop immigrants of the Muslim faith is "racist and reckless." 

He told SBS Arabic24, "My job is to de-escalate a situation and not to escalate it. But if Senator Anning wants to discuss terrorism, I can show him the statistics about non-Muslim terrorism".

Dr Ibrahim Abu Mohamad, said Senator Fraser Anning "got into politics recklessly, and he is not equipped with facts about the role of the Muslim community in Australia."

Katters Australian Party Senator Fraser Anning in the Senate chamber at Parliament House in Canberra, Wednesday, August 15, 2018. Source: AAP

"I respect the voters who chose the senator and respect their free will, but I advise the senator to work in another field because his rhetoric is really outdated."

The Lebanese Muslim Association has also slammed the comments as "deliberately inflammatory and deeply offensive".

"Senator Anning’s callous attack on the Australian Muslim community must be called out for what it is: systemic racist bigotry," a spokesperson said.

Read the full story at SBS Arabic24.

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