Extremist group Hizb ut-Tahrir linked to Parramatta police shooting, refuse to condemn shooting

THEY’RE the “hate preachers” the government vowed to crack down on, but Hizb ut-Tahrir is still here and linked to the latest shocking terror attack.

THEY are the extremist group former prime minister Tony Abbott dubbed “hate preachers” as he pledged to have them banned. Still free to spread their extremist message, Hizb ut-Tahrir has been linked to Australia’s latest terror attack.

The radical political group yesterday refused to condemn the cold-blooded murder committed by teen terrorist Farhard Jabar Khalil Mohammad on Friday, when the 15-year-old shot dead a police worker before being gunned down himself in a suspected suicide mission.

The boy, born in Iran to Iraqi-Kurd parents, had lived a normal childhood in Australia becoming a keen basketball player with an interest in reality TV. His frequent visits to the local mosque, which he also visited en route to carrying out his brutal crime, have been the only known changes in behaviour in the months ahead of the murder.

During his final visit, Farhard Jabar was part of the audience for a lecture given by a speaker associated with notorious extremist group Hizb ut-Tahrir, according to Seven News.

WHAT IS HIZB UT-TAHRIR?

The group’s name would set off alarm bells for anyone following the worrying radicalisation of young Australian Muslims in recent years.

Preaching extremism and condemning Australia’s involvement in the fight against Islamic State, the group has been allowed to freely spread its views here while being banned in other countries.

Labelling itself a “political party whose ideology is Islam”, the group aims to “bring Muslims back to living an Islamic ways of life”. At previous events, speakers for the organisation have promoted a “new world order” under a caliphate governed by Islamic law — a similar objective to Islamic State.

Hizb ut-Tahrir has already been banned in some Arab countries as well as Russia while Germany has imposed a partial ban on the grounds that it promotes racial disharmony.

The main concern around the group, as Mr Abbott said when they attracted controversy earlier this year, is that they “nurture extremism”.

The group has pointedly refused to condemn previous terror attacks like the Charlie Hebdo massacre in France, and the actions of IS.

Sheik Ismail al-Wahwah speaks at a pro-Islam and anti-US rally organised by Hizb ut-Tahrir in front of Lakemba railway station.

While there is no evidence the group was involved in Farhad Jabar’s radicalisation, leaders of the self-proclaimed political party refused to condemn the teenager’s act of terror during a rally at a Lakemba, in Sydney’s west, yesterday.

When asked by The Daily Telegraph about the 15-year-old’s execution of Mr Cheng, the group’s leader Ismail Alwahwah would not comment about what happened in Parramatta on Friday.

“Why not Saturday, Sunday or Monday? I know nothing,” he said.

Spokesman for the group’s Australian arm, Wassim Doureih, told The Australian: “All questions about Friday will be disregarded.”

NSW police would not comment on the alleged link between the group and Friday’s shooting.

Sheik Alwahwah used his speech to an audience of about 70, including more than a dozen children, to protest against Western intervention in Syria, and said IS was not to blame for escalating violence in Syria.

“No one can stop us. We are ready to pay the price. This world belongs to the creator,” he said, according to the Telegraph.

“ISIS, like many organisations, is a bogeyman that’s conveniently used to justify Western military aggression in that part of the world.

“The issue has never been ISIS, this a war against the Muslims in Syria and prevents them from obtaining their own political will and destiny.”

The pro-Islam and anti-US rally organised by Hizb ut-Tahrir attracted a crowd of about 70.

THEY SHOULD BE CONDEMNED

Prominent Australian Muslim community leader Dr Jamal Rifi has slammed the group for refusing to condemn the terror act.

“This is a brutal murder,” he told the Nine Network.

“For them not to condemn it is wrong of them. We need to question what they have said, what they are doing, what the message is they are sending out there.”

Dr Rifi said the group, which has about 300 members in Australia, had little influence in Australia.

“They have existed here for 30 years and they have not garnered any support here,” he said.

Dr Jamal Rifi says Hizb ut-Tahrir has little support and influence in Australia.

Parramatta Mosque, which reportedly hosted an Hizb ut-Tahrir speaker on the day the young terrorist visited, is under police investigation and questions have been raised about why members of the controversial organisation were allowed to give lectures there.

Earlier this year, former prime minister Tony Abbott vowed to crack down on groups like Hizb ut-Tahrir before introducing his tight anti-terror laws.

“We have to tackle the people and the organisations that justify terrorism and act as its recruiting agents — such as Hizb ut-Tahrir,” he said.

“If cracking down on Hizb ut-Tahrir and others who nurture extremism in our suburbs means further legislation, we will bring it on.”

New Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has vowed to take a more inclusive approach in addressing radicalisation in consultation with the Muslim community, but is yet to address whether any action will be taken regarding Hizb ut-Tahrir.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull addresses the media after two people were shot dead near NSW Police headquarters in Parramatta, Sydney. Picture: Tracey Nearmy/AAP

SO WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO?

Islamic leaders were part of a teleconference with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, NSW Premier Mike Baird, federal and NSW police and other agencies on Saturday.

Dr Rifi took part in the phone hook-up and welcomed the inclusive talks, saying the Muslim community no longer felt they were fighting radicalisation with their hands tied behind their backs.

“With this telephone conversation … we felt that the shackles came off,” he told AAP on Sunday.

“The mood right now has shifted. It’s not about blame. It’s about solution.”

Dr Rifi backed Foreign Minister Julie Bishop’s statement that families of vulnerable youth would be “Australia’s frontline of defence against radicalised young people”.

Dr Rifi said parents were well-positioned to pick up early signs of radicalisation or change in behaviour, but the needed more assistance.

On ABC radio on Monday, he proposed a special assessment team, which could include a community or family leader, psychologists, youth workers and religious leaders.

“Kids have always had a history of being disengaged … but not to this extent. We’ve got to find ways to stop them. There’s got to be an intervention,” he said.