Related: 12 arrested in Australian racial attack

    CANBERRA, Dec. 12 (Xinhuanet) -- Australian Prime Minister John Howard and Federal Opposition Leader Kim Beazley on Monday condemned Sunday's race-based attacks in Sydney, Australia's largest city.

    Dozens of people were injured and 16 were arrested during the riots, in which mobs chanted racist slogans and chased down and bashed people of Middle Eastern appearance on Cronulla beach of Sydney.

    "Mob violence is always sickening," Howard was quoted by Australian Associated Press as telling reporters in Sydney.

    "Attacking people on the basis of their race, their appearance, their ethnicity, is totally unacceptable and should be repudiated by all Australians irrespective of their own background and their politics," he said.

    But he said the riots do not mean Australia is racist.

    "I do not accept there is underlying racism in this country," he said.

    "I have always taken a more optimistic view of the character of the Australian people," he said.

    Howard said anybody who broke the law on Sunday or on the previous weekend, when two lifeguards and a camera crew were assaulted, should be apprehended and prosecuted.

    He warned anyone considering further violent behavior would face the full force of the law.

    Meanwhile, Beazley also condemned the violence, urging political, religious and community leaders to help police uphold the law.

    "The Australian Labor Party utterly condemns the mob violence at Cronulla over the weekend," Beazley told reporters in Perth, capital of the state of Western Australia, on Monday.

    "We respect the rule of law, Australians respect the rule of law, and I urge the New South Wales government and the police forces to make absolutely certain the rule of law is upheld," he said.

    "There can be no excuse for mob violence," he said.

    A police strike force has been established to track down those responsible for the riots. Enditem