US president-elect Donald Trump has named Michael Flynn, a controversial ex-army general who once said that "fear of Muslims is rational" and used the phrase "Islamic ideology sick", as his national security adviser.
In an interview with Al Jazeera first published in July, Flynn, 57, defended his remarks on social media, saying leaders in the Muslim-majority countries need to do more and "stand up".
"Islam is a political ideology based on religion," Flynn told Mehdi Hasan , host of Al Jazeera's Upfront, in an interview during the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio.
After an attack in Nice, France , Flynn wrote on Twitter: "I dare Arab & Persian world 'leaders' to step up to the plate and declare their Islamic ideology sick and must [be] healed."
In a separate interview with Al Jazeera in May, Flynn also refused to condemn Trump's proposal to ban Muslims from entering the US.
"What I support ... is that we must understand where these individuals are coming from," Flynn said, adding that he supported the "vetting of individuals and the proper screening of individuals who are coming from certain parts of the world like Syria".
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