Anonymous denies plans to wear burqas to G20

Anarchist group Anonymous has denied its members planned to don burqas or niqabs to protest at the G20 summit in Brisbane.

We Are Anonymous Queensland released a statement categorically denying the claims first published in the Courier-Mail, stating its members would not "use religious headwear for (their) own purposes".

"That is disgraceful and it is wrong," the statement said.

The group admitted another faction, Anonymous Brisbane, had discussed the issue of Islamic headwear on its Facebook page, but said the focus had simply been on the laws banning masks and non-religious face coverings at the G20 protests.

Members of the protest group usually conceal their identities in public by donning a Guy Fawkes mask.

The claims that protesters might wear religious facial coverings roused alarm in the Muslim community, with fears it could intensify Islamophobic attitudes.

Police also responded to the issue, saying they would not tolerate protesters "masquerading" behind religious headwear.

Anonymous conducted a protest in Brisbane earlier this week, but it was unrelated to the G20.

The Million Mask March ran on November 5, to commemorate Guy Fawkes' Day.

The use of Guy Fawkes as a mascot is drawn from the popular movie and iconic comic book, V For Vendetta, about a masked freedom fighter who overthrows a fascist British government.

However, Fawkes (1570-1606) could be regarded as an odd mascot for the anarchist movement.

He was an English Catholic who hoped to blow up the London Houses of Parliament and carry out an armed uprising to install a Catholic monarch on the British throne.

The plan, known as the Gunpowder Plot, was betrayed to the authorities and Fawkes and his co-conspirators were caught and executed.