Attack on Canada Parliament 'revenge'

(MENAFN- Arab News) TORONTO/OTTAWA: The gunman who killed a Canadian soldier and then stormed Parliament before being shot to death believed Canada had no right to involve its military in Afghanistan and that Canadian soldiers are 'not even safe in your own land.'

The militant had stormed the Parliament last October before being shot dead. According to a video released on Friday he said he carried out the attack in retaliation for the West's military deployment in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The attack began at Canada's war memorial where Michael shot and killed Cpl. Nathan Cirillo who was assigned to the honor guard there.

Michael made the video message on a phone found in his abandoned car.

Michael was eventually gunned down inside Parliament by the sergeant-at-arms of the House of Commons Kevin Vickers.

'This is in retaliation for Afghanistan and because (Prime Minister Stephen) Harper wants to send his troops to Iraq' Michael says in the grainy video released by police.

'Canada's officially become one of our enemies by fighting and bombing us and creating a lot of terror in our countries and killing us and killing our innocents' added the 32-year-old.

'We'll not cease until you guys decide to be a peaceful country and stay to your own and stop going to other countries and stop occupying and killing the righteous of us who are trying to bring back religious law in our countries.'

Michael a petty criminal who later converted to Islam was shot dead by the Canadian Parliament's Sergeant at Arms.

Royal Canadian Mounted Police Commissioner Bob Paulson told a parliamentary committee the federal police edited out 18 seconds of the video before releasing it 13 at beginning and five at the end but did not explain what had been cut.

The committee is examining a proposed new anti-terror law written in response to Michael's attack and another on a Canadian soldier in rural Quebec the same week and provides sweeping new powers to Canada's spy agency.

Canada ended its 10-year military mission in Afghanistan last year. In November its war planes joined US-led airstrikes on Islamic State militants in Iraq.