World reacts to New Zealand mosque attacks
Political and Islamic leaders across the globe have expressed their disgust at the deadly terrorist attack on the two mosques in New Zealand on Friday, with citing rising "Islamophobia" as responsible.
"I blame these increasing terror attacks on the current Islamophobia post-9/11 (where) 1.3 billion Muslims have collectively been blamed for any act of terror," Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan posted on social media.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said the attack was a deliberate demonizing of Muslim political struggles.
"Not only the perpetrators but also politicians and media that fuel the already escalated Islamophobia and hate in the West, are equally responsible for this heinous attack," he wrote on Twitter.
In a statement, Al-Azhar University, Egypt's 1,000-year-old seat of Islamic learning, said the attacks had "violated the sanctity of the houses of God."
"We warn the attack is a dangerous indicator of the dire consequences of escalating hate speech, xenophobia, and the spread of Islamophobia."
More had to be done to promote the co-existence of different religions and cultures, the university said.
Search for Victims
New Zealand police said 49 people were killed. Three men and one woman were in custody and one man had been charged with murder.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said some of the victims may have been new immigrants and refugees.
"They are us. The person who has perpetuated this violence against us is not. They have no place in New Zealand," she said.
A city of about 400,000 people, Christchurch has a significant Islamic community, including overseas students.
Indonesia's ambassador to New Zealand, Tantowi Yahya, told Reuters six Indonesians had been inside one of the mosques when the attack occurred, with three managing to escape and three unaccounted for.
There are 331 Indonesians in Christchurch, including 134 students, the foreign ministry said.
"Indonesia strongly condemns this shooting act, especially at a place of worship while a Friday prayer was ongoing," Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said in a statement.
Afghanistan's ambassador to Australia, New Zealand and Fiji, Wahidullah Waissi, said on Twitter three Afghans had been wounded.
Two Malaysians were also wounded in the attack, its foreign ministry said.
Bangladeshi Foreign Minister Shahriar Alam said it was "extremely lucky" the country's cricket team did not suffer casualties. The team, in the city to play a match against the New Zealand national team, arrived for Friday prayers as the shooting occurred.
"I can't even imagine what would have happened if they were there five minutes earlier," he said on social media.
Ordinary people expressed their horror about a live, point-of-view video posted online that appeared to be one of the shooters killing any person he came across in a mosque with an automatic assault rifle.
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