Mosque threats: Man granted interim name suppression

A 27-year-old man charged with threatening to kill worshippers at the Linwood and Al Noor mosques, has made his first appearance in the Christchurch District Court.

Police say he made the threats on the 4chan website which is favoured by white supremacists.

A cached version of the threat, which has now been taken down from the site, talks about the use of car bombs to attack the mosques on the two year anniversary of the March 15 terror attacks.

The man was arrested last night after a raid on his home by members of the Armed Offenders Squad.

He was granted interim name suppression and was remanded in custody until his next appearance on March 19.

Meanwhile, the neighbours of the man charged over the threats say they are shocked at the allegations.

Both mosques were searched on Tuesday after a member of the public warned the police about a post on the website 4chan.

Police initially arrested two people after raids in Linwood and St Albans yesterday afternoon.

Neighbours living in the unit behind the St Albans house, who asked not to be identified, said they had hardly slept after returning late from work and reading the news.

They did not see their neighbour often and were not sure how long he had lived there.

Canterbury district commander superintendent John Price told a media briefing last night that any threat made on people and the community was not tolerated.

"We take all threats of this nature seriously and we are working closely with our Muslim community.

"Any messages of hate or people wanting to cause harm in our community will not be tolerated - it's not the Kiwi way."

The Muslim community was spoken to "pretty soon" after police were made aware of the threat, he said.

In a statement after the arrests, Muslim Association of Canterbury spokesperson Abdigani Ali said they appreciated police acting promptly on the threat and in consultation with the association and Muslim leaders in the community.

In another statement, Islamic Women's Council of New Zealand (IWCNZ) said the threats were "especially cruel" as the community approached the second anniversary of the attacks.

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