AUCKLAND, July 10: At least six Islamic centres in New Zealand have been vandalised and their walls painted with the message “Londoners RIP”, police said on Sunday following the deadly bombings in London.
In what appeared to be a co-ordinated series of attacks across Auckland, vandals smashed windows and doors and left variations of the same message in black paint on walls facing the street.
Muslim leaders and political leaders condemned the attacks.
New Zealand Federation of Islamic Associations president Javed Khan said it was the first time an attack on this scale had occurred against the country’s 40,000 Muslims, about 25,000 of whom live in Auckland.
Mr Khan said Muslims were “shocked and saddened” by the incidents in London and appealed to his community to be calm and tolerant of the overnight attacks in Auckland.
“We do not tolerate terrorism. Islam does not tolerate terrorism. It condemns anyone taking the life of an innocent person,” Mr Khan told a gathering at the Masjid Al-Mustafa.
Foreign Affairs Minister Phil Goff, one of four government MPs to attend the gathering, said the politicians had come to “express solidarity with you in the face of this mindless and stupid vandalism”.
Prime Minister Helen Clark said it was wrong to target the Muslim community in New Zealand in retaliation for the attacks in London.
“New Zealand’s Muslim community, like all its communities, is overwhelmingly a law-abiding and peaceful community,” she said.—AFP
