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Headlines

Ardern vows never to say Christchurch gunman's name

Wellington, March 19 

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Tuesday vowed that she will never mention the name of the lone gunman who carried out the March 15 Christchurch mosques massacre, in order to deprive him of the notoriety he was looking for.

"I implore you: Speak the names of those who were lost rather than the name of the man who took them. You will never hear me mention his name. He is a terrorist, he is a criminal, he is an extremist, but he will, when I speak, be nameless," Efe news quoted Ardern as saying at Parliament here.

"And to others, I implore you, speak the names of those who are lost, rather than the name of the man who took them," the Prime Minister said where she also remembered some of the victims, including Haji-Daoud Nabi, a 71-year-old Afghan man who opened the door of the Al Noor mosque to the shooter and whose last words were "Hello brother, welcome".

"He may have sought notoriety, but we in New Zealand will give him nothing, not even his name," Ardern said, adding the perpetrator of the attack that claimed the lives of 50 people, will have to face more charges and will be punished by "the full force of the law" in New Zealand.

She stressed that the doors of her country will remain open as always for anyone who respects the values of tolerance and "must close on all of those who espouse hate and fear".

The Prime Minister confirmed that the actions of the security agencies prior to the events will be reviewed, gun laws will be reformed and the role of social networks will be analysed, while at the same time support will be given to the families of the deceased.

Meanwhile, Australian Brenton Tarrant, aged 28, who police consider being solely responsible for the attack, will remain in custody until he appears before the judge on April 5.

The assailant resided in Dunedin, about 400 km south of Christchurch, where he used semi-automatic weapons to attack hundreds of people who had flocked to the Al Noor and Linwood mosques for their usual Friday prayers on March 15.

The terrorist filmed his actions for 17 minutes and published a long manifesto of more than 70 pages, justifying his extreme right-wing ideology and hatred of Muslims, which together with the video were published on social networks.