The Secretary General of the Muslim Council of Elders, Dr Sultan Al Remeithi has condemned Friday's terrorist attacks which targeted two mosques in the New Zealand city of Christchurch.

Al Remeithi said, "We can only consider this as a blind act of terrorism which targeted innocent civilians. Terrorism has no religion and we are struggling to find an effective strategy to counter it, having done so with conventional methods and very modest results and little to no peaceful coexistence in many parts of the world."

Al Remeithi added, "The Muslim Council of Elders strongly condemns terrorism in all of its forms. We must continue in our international efforts to spread knowledge and coexistence among future generations to continue building in our societies while rejecting and eradicating extremist thought."

Al Remeithi concluded, "Religious and intellectual organisations around the world must assume the most important role to repel misconceived thoughts towards others. We send our utmost condolences to all those that have been affected by the barbaric terrorist attack and to the people and government of New Zealand."