World mourns New Zealand terror attacks

ISLAMABAD: The world continues to mourn the cold-blooded massacre of innocent Muslims at two Christchurch mosques in New Zealand on Friday and pour scorn on the supremacist killer Brenton Tarrant.

The monuments around the globe went dark in solidarity with New Zealand. The lights of Eiffel Tower and the Empire State were turned off on Saturday night in respect of 50 martyrs. In Wellington — the capital of New Zealand — thousands of people gathered on Sunday to mourn the victims and to show the living they cared.

New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said she would be looking for answers from Facebook and other social media firms about how an attack that killed 50 mosque-goers was livestreamed on their platforms.

Ardern said her office received a "manifesto" from the gunman who killed 50 people in two Christchurch mosques minutes before Friday’s attack.

"I was one of more than 30 recipients of the manifesto that was mailed out nine minutes before the attack took place," Ardern told reporters on Sunday.

"It did not include a location, it did not include specific details," she said, adding that it was sent to security services within two minutes of receipt. Ardern said she had read "elements" of the lengthy, meandering and conspiracy-filled far-right "manifesto".

"The fact that there was an ideological manifesto with extreme views attached to this attack, of course, that is deeply disturbing," she said.

The death toll in the New Zealand mosque shootings rose to 50 on Sunday when police found another body at one of the mosques, as families waited for authorities to formally identify victims and release their bodies for burial.

Ardern said police would be posted at all mosques while they are open. Saying there were "further questions to be answered" by the tech giants, Ardern said Facebook chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg had been in contact and "acknowledged what has occurred here in New Zealand". The stream on Facebook, lasting 17 minutes, was shared repeatedly on YouTube and Twitter, and internet platforms were scrambling to remove videos being reposted of the gruesome scenes.

"We did as much as we could to remove, or seek to have removed, some of the footage that was being circulated in the aftermath of this terrorist attack," Ardern said. "But ultimately it has been up to those platforms to facilitate their removal."

"I do think that there are further questions to be answered." In a statement on Sunday, Mia Garlick of Facebook New Zealand vowed to "work around the clock to remove violating content".

"In the first 24 hours we removed 1.5 million videos of the attack globally, of which over 1.2 million were blocked at upload," the company said.

Ardern was joined by Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison in expressing doubts that current rules go far enough. Morrison said that social media companies had "co-operated" since the attack.

"But I sadly have to say that the capacity to actually assist fully is very limited on the technology side." He said "assurances were given" that once such content was pulled down, a regime would make sure it did not go back up. "Clearly it hasn’t (happened)."

"So I think there are some very real discussions that have to be had about how these facilities and capabilities as they exist on social media, can continue to be offered." The accused gunman, a right-wing extremist and self-confessed white supremacist Brenton Tarrant, documented his radicalisation and two years of preparations in a lengthy, meandering and conspiracy-filled far-right "manifesto".

Tarrant, 28, was charged with murder on Saturday and was remanded without a plea. He is due back in court on April 5 where police said he was likely to face more charges.

Ardern said Tarrant was a licensed gun owner who allegedly used five weapons, including two semi-automatic weapons and two shotguns, which had been modified.

The mourners came with flowers and signs and hearts heavy with grief; they came reeling from the events of the past few days. Together they wept for everyone -- and everything -- that was lost, and promised each other it would never happen again. Wellington City Council estimated 11,000 people attended the vigil at the Basin Reserve vigil and by 6pm -- when the event began -- crowds still lined the surrounding streets as they queued to join.

Inside, clad mostly in white, the crowd listened to speeches and prayers, all the while watched over by policemen with automatic firearms.

A small boy gave a card to a Muslim woman, a group of teenagers held hands, and a man turned his face into a friend's shoulder and cried.

Even when asked separately the people said the same thing: they came to be with others, they came to send a message and they came because they didn't know what else to do.

Among the sea of people, Azhar Nassari took a break from translating the speeches for her mum to stand up and film the crowd. "It's good to see all the people and all the Muslims," the 10-year-old said. "It's so great to see people loving us and wanting us."

Wellington students Samiya and Jamila Mckonnon had joined the vigil to show their support for fellow Muslims and be with fellow New Zealanders.

"I've noticed things have changed since the terror attack," Samiya said, "everyone's friendlier and there's more smiles towards you, that's always a good thing."

Jamila hoped the attack would bring people together: "Hopefully they're more understanding of people who are different to them."

Not far from the Mckonnon family, Rosalind Dawson and Siang Tay sat with baby Florence. "It's hard to know what to do," Dawson said, "even this doesn't feel enough. We're so shocked this has happened."

Kapiti woman Sophie Perkins said her family had decided to join the vigil as soon as they heard about it. "It seemed the right thing to do."

Across the basin, Dulcie Johnston from Lower Hutt said it was important to be with other people after the tragedy. "It's an expression of being one with the people who have been hurt and who are hurting."

She wasn't surprised by the number of people who had turned up to the vigil. "This is Wellington and this is what we do. I wouldn't expect anything less."

In a related development, the Government of Pakistan Sunday decided to observe a day of mourning today (Monday) for the 50 martyred Muslims. The national flag of Pakistan will fly at half-mast across the country in reverence of the martyred and the injured.

According to a notification, the decision was taken to express solidarity with the bereaved families. The notification said the government and the people of Pakistan stood united and extended solidarity to the grieved families. Well-placed sources told The News on Sunday that the Foreign Office had suggested the government to observe a day of mourning for the martyred since it was in line with the policy of the government and sentiments of the people across the world.

A number of countries have expressed solidarity with the victims by observing mourning days, including some non-Muslim countries. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Imran Khan has said that Pakistan is proud of Mian Naeem Rashid who was martyred while trying to tackle the white supremacist terrorist in Christchurch mosque.

In a tweet, he said the courage of Mian Naeem Rashid will be recognized with a national award. “We stand ready to extend all our support to the families of Pakistani victims of the terrorist attack in Christchurch,” he said. The gallantry award will be announced for Mian Naeem Rashid next Friday on the occasion of Pakistan Day. The sources said the government had issued necessary instructions to the Cabinet Division in this regard.

The government was also considering announcing compensation for the victims of belonging to Pakistan, the sources added. Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi Sunday said Pakistan and Turkey had agreed to convey an emergency meeting of the OIC adding that if the entire OIC and Muslim Ummah spoke in one voice, it would carry a lot of weight. Turkey is currently the OIC president.

Speaking to the media here, Qureshi said he had reached out to his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu on Saturday and they agreed to call an emergency meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the OIC on March 22 in Istanbul to discuss the causes, impacts and way forward in the aftermath of New Zealand terror attacks.

"The idea to hold this emergency OIC meeting is to devise a strategy against Islamophobia, while keeping the Christchurch tragedy in mind.

“The plans is to unite and identify a strategy to curb Islamophobia. Efforts will be made to find out what exactly happened in New Zealand and find answers to this drastic act of Islamophobia.

“The mindless killing spree carried out by terrorists once again proved that terrorism knows no religion or boundaries. Pakistan itself is a victim of terrorism and has lost more than 70,000 innocent lives. This affirms Pakistan’s narrative that terrorism is an international phenomenon, having no religion and should not be associated with any religion,” said the foreign minister.

The foreign minister wished speedy recovery to those injured in the incident. He assured Pakistan’s support to the government and people of New Zealand in this hour of grief.

Earlier reports spoke about the Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif also calling for holding an emergency meeting of the OIC. In a statement, the Iranian Foreign Ministry said Zarif called for an "appropriate reaction of Muslim states to this heinous crime".

Qureshi also told the media that contacts with authorities in New Zealand had been made and the process for identification of bodies had been completed and they will start handing over all bodies to their heirs on Monday. He added that New Zealand has agreed to keep the foreign ministry in loop in connection with the investigations. Qureshi said that the families of six Pakistani victims had decided to offer funeral prayers and bury their loved ones in Christchurch, while families of three victims want to bring back the bodies to offer last rituals in Pakistan. He said that he had already asked New Zealand officials to hasten the process. Paying tribute to Naeem Rashid, he said the courage and bravery of this Pakistani had been acknowledged.

New Zealand has agreed to pay for the funerals of the victims.

The New Zealand foreign minister further told Qureshi that investigation was being held on the motives of terrorist. Qureshi told his Kiwi counterpart that terrorism had reached the shores of a peaceful and beautiful country like New Zealand, according to a statement issued by the Foreign Office.

He said New Zealand’s foreign minister had assured Islamabad of its assistance and to speed up the paperwork so that the bodies could be brought back to Pakistan.

“I have requested the foreign minister to hasten the process so that they can be laid to rest,” he added.

He informed that the Pakistan High Commission in New Zealand was in touch with the families of the victims.

Names of the martyred: Meanwhile, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Islamabad announced the names of Pakistanis who embraced shahadat’ in the terrorist attack. They are Sohail Shahid, Syed Jahandad Ali (Lahore), Syed Areeb Ahmed (Karachi), Mahboob Haroon (Islamabad), Naeem Rashid (Abbottabad), and Talha Naeem (Abbottabad). The latest information about other three missing Pakistanis will be shared once their identity is confirmed by the local authorities.

Meanwhile, the Crisis Management Cell of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the High Commission of Pakistan in Wellington, New Zealand, are assisting the families including visas (if required) and transportation of the bodies to Pakistan at the earliest.

Foreign Office Spokesperson Dr Mohammad Faisal Sunday confirmed three more Pakistanis dead in the horrific terrorist attack on two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand.

In his tweet, Dr Faisal said Zeeshan Raza, his father Ghulam Hussain and mother Karam Bibi have now been confirmed to have embraced shahadat in the terrorist attack. He said a total of nine Pakistanis had embraced shahadat in the attacks.