Quebec mosque attack: Student Alexandre Bissonnette charged

Canadian police have charged a French-Canadian 

student over the fatal shooting of six Muslim 
worshippers at a mosque in Quebec.

Alexandre Bissonnette faces six counts of first-degree 
murder and five of attempted murder.

The 27-year-old briefly appeared in a Quebec City court 
over Sunday evening's attack, during evening prayers 
at the Quebec Islamic Cultural Centre.

Vigils have been held across Canada to commemorate
 those killed and injured.

More than 50 people were at the mosque when the 
shooting erupted just before 20:00 on Sunday.

Nineteen people were wounded - all men - and of five
 people still in hospital, two were in a critical condition.

A man of Moroccan heritage who was also arrested 
after the attack, Mohamed Khadir, is now being treated
 as a witness.

Quebec provincial police have released the names 
of all six victims who were killed:

Father-of-three Azzeddine Soufiane, 57, a grocer and 
butcher 

Khaled Belkacemi, 60, a professor in the food
 science department at Laval University 

Father-of- three, Abdelkrim Hassen, 41, an IT worker for 
the government

Aboubaker Thabti, 44, and two Guinea nationals, 
Mamadou Tanou Barry, 42, and Ibrahima Barry, 39

Mr Bissonnette did not enter a plea as he appeared in 
court on Monday, wearing a white prison-issue jump
 suit, his hands and feet shackled.

The suspect was arrested in his car on a bridge leading 
from Quebec City to Ile d'Orleans, where he called 
police to say he wanted to cooperate with the authorities.

According to local media, Mr Bissonnette studied
 political science and anthropology at Laval University,
 whose campus is about 3km (two miles) away from the mosque.

The Montreal Gazette reports that the suspect dressed 
up as the Grim Reaper for Halloween, according 
to his Facebook page, which has now been taken offline.

On the social network, he also reportedly "liked" US 
President Donald Trump and French National Front
 leader Marine Le Pen.

Francois Deschamps, an official with an advocacy 
group, Welcome to Refugees, said the suspect was
 known for his far- right views.

"It's with pain and anger that we learn the identity of
 terrorist Alexandre Bissonnette, unfortunately known 
to many activists in Quebec for taking nationalist, pro-
Le Pen and anti-feminist positions at Laval University 
and on social media," Mr Deschamps wrote on 
organisation's Facebook page.

The streets around the mosque are mostly deserted 
except for the police investigators milling around the cordoned-off site.

Noemie Roussel Paradis is standing alone across from
 the empty mosque holding a Koran. She is a proud 
convert to Islam and came to pay her respects after 
"this murder, this attack, this act of terrorism", even
 though this was not the mosque where she prays.

"This is Allah's home, and there was blood spilled on the
 floor," she said.

She said it's likely that she shared a Ramadan meal 
with one of the people who was in the mosque during 
the attack. "The only thing we can do now is cry and hope
 that Allah will make those responsible face their actions," 
she said.

Nearby, Martin St-Louis is holding a large wooden
 board, its painted message carrying a call for peace.

"Where terror stands or walks, peace must stand," he said. 
"I'm no philosopher or priest, but for those people who fall,
 we have to stand."

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Quebec 
Premier Philippe Couillard both described the shooting 
as a terrorist attack.

Addressing the more than one million Muslims who 
live in Canada, Mr Trudeau said: "We are with you.

"Thirty-six million hearts are breaking with yours. Know 
that we value you."

The shooting came amid heightened global tensions LPover Mr Trump's travel ban on seven Muslim countries .

But the White House, which condemned the attack, said 
it was also an example of why the US president's policies 
were needed.

White House spokesman Sean Spicer said: "It's a
 terrible reminder of why we must remain vigilant and
 why the president is taking steps to be pro-active, rather
 than reactive when it comes to our nation's safety and security."

The mosque has been a target of hate crimes in the
 past, including last summer when a pig's head was
 left on its doorstep during Ramadan.

Mohamed Labidi, vice-president of the Islamic centre,
 said the victims had been shot in the back.

"Security at our mosque was our major, major concern,"
 Mr Labidi said tearfully. "But we were caught off-guard."

The predominantly French-speaking province of Quebec 
has welcomed thousands of immigrants from Arab
 countries and other nations.

But there has been a longstanding debate over the "reasonable accommodation" of immigrants and 
religious minorities.