London :London Mayor Sadiq Khan has led a vigil of hundreds of Londoners in rememberance of those who died following Saturday night’s terror attack in the capital.
While addressing a multi-cultural audience, Khan said London would never be ‘broken by terrorism’ and that terrorism would be defeated.
“We stand together tonight to honour the memories of the innocent lives lost and people injured in the barbaric attack on our city. London stands in defiance against this cowardly attack and our city and our people and our values and our way of live,” he said.
“As the mayor of London I want to send a clear message to the sick and evil extremists who commit this hideous crimes; we will defeat you. You will not win. And as a proud and patriotic British Muslim I say this: you do not commit these disgusting acts in my name. Your perverse ideology has nothing to do with the true values of Islam and you will never succeed is dividing our city.”
‘We send our love to the victims’ families and all those injures and we thank our courageous emergency services and the brace Londoners who risked their lives. You are the best of us. Our city is filled with great sorrow and anger tonight but also great resolve and determination. Because our unity and love will always be stronger then the hate of the extremists,” he added.
Flanked by Amber Rudd and Diane Abbott, Khan also accused United States President Donald Trump of seeking to divide communities in Britain after he took to the social media to criticise his leadership in the wake of the attack.
“Some people thrive on feud and division. We are not going to let Donald Trump divide our communities,” The Independent quoted Khan, as saying, while he addressed the media at the Tower Bridge last night.
“I just haven’t got time to respond to tweets from Donald Trump. Honestly I’ve got better and more important things to focus on,” he added.
Khan has reportedly also said Trump was wrong about “many things” and that his state visit to the U.K. should not go ahead.
Khan received support from many, including Prime Minister Theresa May.
“I think Sadiq Khan is doing a good job and it’s wrong to say anything else – he’s doing a good job,” she said at a press conference.
Trump had earlier criticised Khan over the statement given by him and said he was being “politically correct”.
Khan had earlier condemned the attack and said there was no reason for people to be alarmed by the sight of Armed police officers, Trump said. “At least 7 dead and 48 wounded in terror attack and Mayor of London says there is ‘no reason to be alarmed!'”
Meanwhile, the United States Conference of Mayors, which represents 1,400 communities of more than 30,000 people, issued a statement of solidarity.
“The United States Conference of Mayors stands today united with Mayor Sadiq Khan of London and the people of London. We send condolences to family and loved ones of those dead and injured,” the group said.
“We send praise and absolute respect for the police officers who responded with eight minutes to kill all three of the London Bridge terrorist murderers,” it added.
ANI