Quebec Premier Says Province Stands with Its Muslim Citizens

Six people died and eight were injured after gunmen opened fire at a Quebec City mosque.

Montreal, 03 Jumadil Awwal 1438/31 January 2017 (MINA) – Government leaders in Quebec on Monday reassured Muslim citizens of the Canadian province that they stand in solidarity with them after a shooting at a mosque killed six people, according to DPA.

Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard and Regis Labeaume, mayor of Quebec City, held a joint news conference with Muslim community leaders in Quebec City on the morning after the attack, which Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said was terrorism.

“I want to say a few words to our Quebecois compatriots of the Muslim confession. We’re with you. You are home, you are welcome in your home. We’re all Quebecois,” said Couillard.

The premier said the citizens of Quebec and the province’s political parties “speak with the same voice” in response to the attack, which also injured eight people, five of them seriously.

Police are holding two men in custody. Initially, they were both considered suspects, but authorities quoted in Canadian media say investigators now believe only one of them was involved.

Labeaume described Quebec City as a city in mourning.

Neither man would respond directly to a question about whether rhetoric coming from the United States following President Donald Trump’s executive order on immigration suspending admissions from seven majority-Muslim countries played a role in the attack.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau condemned the shooting as a terrorist attack. He and Trump spoke by phone on Monday, according to news reports.

The attack occurred on the Queber Ciy Islamic Cultural Center.  The victims were all men and aged 39 to 60, police said. (T/RS05/RS01)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)