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Canada: Terrorist killings at mosque lead PM to urge tolerance

CANADIAN Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called for religious tolerance yesterday in the wake of a terrorist attack on a Quebec City mosque that left six people dead on Sunday night.

Two suspects were arrested for the unprovoked shooting spree, one at the scene and one in a car nearby.

Police said yesterday that they do not currently believe anybody else was involved.

Five more people were in a critical condition and 12 others were recovering from lesser injuries last night as Mr Trudeau condemned “this terrorist attack on Muslims in a centre of worship and refuge.”

He stressed that “religious tolerance is a value that we, as Canadians, hold dear” as the global furore over new US President Donald Trump’s ban on refugees and people born in seven Muslim-majority countries continued to mount.

Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard called for solidarity rallies across the province yesterday, while city mayor Regis Labeaume said: “No person should have to pay with their life for their race, their colour, their sexual orientation or their religious beliefs.”

Quebec’s previous administration has been accused of whipping up Islamophobia by trying to ban women from wearing the hijab in public institutions.

Although ostensibly aimed at all ostentatious religious symbols, most saw the policy — like the French law that inspired it — as singling out Muslim women in particular.

The Quebec Islamic Cultural Centre where the killings took place has been the scene of racist provocations in the past, including when a pig’s head was left on the steps during Ramadan last summer.

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