‘We need to see motives behind New Zealand mosque attack’: FM Qureshi

ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said Pakistani officials were in constant touch with the counterparts in New Zealand to facilitate families of Pakistanis who lost their loved ones in the mosque attack, ARY News reported Saturday.

Qureshi said the government of Pakistan would make visa process easier for the affected families.

“We need to see the motives behind this barbaric attack,” he added.

Shah Mehmood Qureshi said Pakistan and Turkey would soon call an emergency session of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to discuss the current situation.

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He said the entire nation knew Pakistan’s integrity was challenged. Indian launched an aggression against Pakistan, but it did get a befitting response.

Qureshi said Pakistan was analyzing all the situation.

The foreign minister said Malaysian prime minister was coming to Pakistan on March 23. Mahathir Mohamed accepted the invitation of Prime Minister Imran Khan to visit Pakistan, he recalled.

Attacks on two Christchurch mosques left at least 49 dead Friday, with one gunman — identified as an Australian extremist — apparently livestreaming the assault that triggered the lockdown of the New Zealand city, according to Reuters.

Australian Brenton Harrison Tarrant, 28, a suspected white supremacist, was charged with murder on Saturday after 49 people were killed and dozens wounded in mass shootings.

Tarrant, handcuffed and wearing a white prison suit, stood silently in the Christchurch District Court where he was remanded without a plea. He is due back in court on April 5 and police said he was likely to face further charges.