A radical Islamic group that wants to establish a global Muslim superstate is demonstrating in Sydney tonight against the conflict in Syria.
A rally is being held in Lakemba on Tuesday, the same day Russia’s ambassador to Turkey was gunned down at an Ankara art gallery in ‘revenge’ for the turmoil in the besieged city of Aleppo.
Radical group Hizb ut-Tahrir is staging the rally near the mosque in south-west Sydney, despite Andrei Karlov’s death at the hands of Ankara police riot squad member Mevlüt Mert Altinta.
Like the 22-year-old murderer, Hizb ut-Tahrir has condemned Russia for the war in Syria.
‘Aleppo has been devastated beyond words as the world watches in silence,’ it said on its Facebook page.
‘American political manoeuvres, Russian barrel bombs and Iranian mercenaries have assisted Assad’s brutality against innocent men, women and children, sparing not even the injured in hospitals.
‘The regimes of surrounding Muslim lands have also been complicit.
‘It is time to break the silence and raise our voice for Aleppo and Syria at large.’
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Hizb ut-Tahrir spokesman Uthman Badar to ask about the 7pm rally, which has 242 confirmed attendees on its Facebook page.
There have been no indications the group will postpone the rally out of respect for the shooting murder of Russia’s 62-year-old ambassador to Turkey by an off-duty Turkish police officer.
‘Allahu Akbar (God is Great). We die in Aleppo, you die here!’ The gunman also screamed: ‘Only death will take me out of here.’
The shooter, who was wearing a suit and tie, reportedly fired into the air before taking aim at the ambassador.
He then turned weapon on others in the gallery, injuring three people before he was shot dead in a 15-minute stand-off with police.
Hizb ut-Tahrir’s spokesman has on his Facebook page underage teenage boys holding up signs in front of the Sydney Harbour Bridge with the slogan: ‘Aleppo is dying. Raise your voice.’
Rallies against the Syrian conflict are also being held in The Netherlands, Turkey, Indonesia and India.