From ABC News Australia
Police say they are looking into whether a French man who allegedly said ‘Allahu akbar” as he stabbed a 21-year-old British woman to death in a north Queensland backpackers’ hostel has any links to extremist groups.
Mia Ayliffe-Chung was stabbed to death and a 30-year-old man was critically injured in front of about 30 people at Shelley’s Backpackers in Home Hill, south of Townsville, after 11:00pm on Tuesday.
A dog from the hostel was also killed during the incident.
A 29-year-old Frenchman who was living with the victims at the hostel is in custody in hospital and is yet to be charged.
He used the Arabic phrase “Allahu akbar” both during the attack and his arrest, Queensland Police Service Deputy Commissioner Steve Gollschewski said.
“While this information will be factored into the investigation we are not ruling out any motivations at this stage, whether they be political or criminal,” he said. “We’re working closely with our partner agencies to make sure if there is any indication that it has an extremist slant, or this person had been radicalised, we can discover that. Investigators will also consider whether mental health or drug misuse factors are involved in this incident.”
Deputy Commissioner Gollschewski said there were no ties to Islamic State and the Frenchman had been in the country about a year on a temporary visa, and appears to have acted alone. “He is a visitor to Australia and has no known local connections, however investigations are ongoing.”
Ms Ayliffe-Chung had been working at a Gold Coast nightclub before her adventures led her to a north Queensland cane farm for work. She was working there in the days before her death.
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One Response
His name is Smail (probably a variant of 'Ismail') Ayad. He is a Muslim. He is not 'a Frenchman" but "a French-passport-holding Muslim'. Our Aussie authorities should never have let him into the country.