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Strategies aren't working: Grand Mufti

The Grand Mufti of Australia has responded to the terrorist attacks in France, saying strategies to deal with terrorism aren't working.

Dr Ibrahim Abu Mohamed
The Grand Mufti of Australia Dr Ibrahim Abu Mohamed (AAP) Source: AAP

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Source: AAP


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The Grand Mufti of Australia says current strategies to combat terrorism are not working, in light of the Paris terror attacks.

Dr Ibrahim Abu Mohammed said in a statement late on Sunday that causative factors such as racism and Islamophobia needed to be addressed.

"These recent incidents highlight the fact that current strategies to deal with the threat of terrorism are not working," Dr Mohammed said.

He condemned the Paris attacks, which killed at least 129 people and injured more than 350, and expressed condolences to the victims' friends and families.

"We call upon all people of goodwill to stand against fear-mongering and injustice," he said.

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Meanwhile, Dr Jamal Rifi, a prominent Muslim community leader in Sydney, said the aim of the attacks was to create terror and fear.

"To actually pull us apart and widen any fractured lines that exist," he told ABC television on Monday.

Dr Rifi said the people who carried out the Paris attacks were evil.

"These are fanatics who believe they are acting in the words of God but in reality they are do work of evil.

"We all need to combat that in terms of ideology and they need to realise the so-called Islamic State is only Islamic by name and they are devil by their actions."

Dr Rifi said division was not a major issue in Australia but the radicalisation of mainly young Muslim men remained a problem.


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