The father of Omar Mateen has blamed security staff at Pulse nightclub for not preventing the murder of 49 innocent people.

Seddique Mateen said religion had nothing to do with the massacre and that he wished his son was alive so he could ask him why he did it.

His son, Omar, a 29-year-old bodybuilder of Afghan origin, shot down clubbers and injured dozens at the Orlando club on Sunday morning.

Seddique Mateen said religion had nothing to do with the massacre and that he wished his son was alive so he could ask him why he did it

Mr Mateen told Sky News: 'The first thing I want to say is that the club should have had good security. The club (with) 300 or 400 people are coming, they should have had a good security.

'My personal feeling (is) he is responsible, the club is responsible for not having good security. If there was a good communication with the security there, they could have protected much better.'

His son, who had pledged his allegiance to ISIS on the phone to police, was killed by SWAT officers when he opened fire after crawling out of a hole made to rescue clubbers.

Asked why he thought his son had gay dating apps like Grindr and Jack'd on his mobile phone, Mr Mateen said he wished his son was alive so he could ask.

'I don't know what he was doing and I wish I did know. I don't know why he was using that, to get there and do something. I wish he was alive so I could ask him,' said Mr Mateen.

He added the attack had 'nothing to do with religion'.

A message posted by Seddique Mateen on Facebook early Monday morning made clear his own views on homosexuality.

In the video the elder Mateen says he was saddened by his son's actions during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

He then added: 'God will punish those involved in homosexuality', saying it's, 'not an issue that humans should deal with'.

Omar Mateen (pictured) killed 49 and injured dozens more Sunday morning when he opened fire in gay club Pulse. His father said he was homophobic, but mounting evidence suggests he was gay and in the closet

Mateen attacked gay club Pulse (pictured) on Sunday morning. He had been a regular there for three years, witnesses later testified - and denied Mateen's father's claim that his son was homophobic

Edward Sotomayor Jr. (left) and Stanley Almodovar III (right) were the first victims identified in the aftermath of the worst mass shooting in American history

The AR-15 rifle is the civilian model of the M-16 which Mateen used, along with a handgun, in the nightclub

Mr Mateen also claimed that the attack had 'nothing to do with Islam. Those killers, they call it ISIS in what I heard in the news. They are not religious people. They use the name of religion for their personal gain.'

The father has his own TV show which is broadcast to Afghanistan from the U.S.

The White House and the FBI said the gunman, an American-born Muslim, appeared to be a 'homegrown extremist' who had touted support not just for ISIS but other radical groups that are its enemies.

The FBI confirmed that Mateen had come to its attention twice before the attack and had been investigated for 10 months from May 2013 because he had made 'inflammatory and contradictory' statements about ties to terrorist groups.

Agents closed the first investigation in early 2014, but Mateen's name came up in a separate FBI investigation in July that year, after he was linked to a Syria suicide bomber.