NZ's Ardern apologises as report into mosque attack faults focus on Islamist terror risks

FILE PHOTO: Armed police officers stand guard outside Al Noor mosque where more than 40 people were killed by a suspected white supremacist during Friday prayers on March 15, in Christchurch, New Zealand April 1, 2019. REUTERS/Edgar Su

WELLINGTON (Reuters) - New Zealand security agencies were almost exclusively focused on the perceived threat of Islamist terrorism before a white supremacist gunman killed 51 Muslim worshippers last year, a report into the country's worst massacre found.

The Royal Commission of Inquiry also criticised police for failing to enforce proper checks when granting a firearms licence to Australian gunman Brenton Tarrant, who released a racist manifesto shortly before the attack and streamed the shootings live on Facebook.