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Mother of slain backpacker condemns Trump for including Queensland attack on terror list

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The mother of a woman who was stabbed to death in a Queensland backpackers' hostel last year has publicly condemned Donald Trump for including her on a White House list of terror attacks.

Mr Trump was using her daughter's killing for "insane persecution" of innocent people, Rosie Ayliffe said in a social media post.

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British tourists Mia Ayliffe-Chung, 20, and Tom Jackson were killed at a hostel near Townsville last August. A French national has been charged with the two murders.

The deaths were included on a list of 78 "terror attacks" released by the White House on Monday, after Mr Trump told an audience at an air force base in Florida that the "very, very dishonest press" were not reporting terror attacks.

Five of the 78 incidents occurred in Australia, including Man Haron Monis' 2014 attack on Sydney's Lindt Cafe.

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In an "open letter to Mr Trump", Mrs Ayliffe said the possibility of the British pair's deaths being part of an Islamic terror attack "was discounted in the early stages of the police investigation" by Australian and French police.

Mrs Ayliffe said she had taken to blogging "to discount this myth of a connection between my daughter's death and Islamic fundamentalism".

"Any fool can shout Allahu akbar as they commit a crime," she said.

French national Smail Ayad, who has been charged with two counts of murder, was allegedly heard yelling "Allahu akbar" during the attack.

Mrs Ayliffe said she had encountered nothing but respect and hospitality during her travels in Islamic countries.

"This vilification of whole nation states and their people based on religion is a terrifying reminder of the horror that can ensue when we allow ourselves to be led by ignorant people into darkness and hatred," she said.

"My daughter's death will not be used to further this insane persecution of innocent people."