Canadian Parliament back at work

The Canadian parliament resumed on Thursday, giving a hero's welcome to the man credited with shooting dead an attacker who got inside the building a day earlier. The gunman is accused of shooting a soldier just beforehand, who later died.

Sergeant-at-arms Kevin Vickers put aside his largely ceremonial duties to draw a gun on the attacker, just outside the MPs' caucus rooms. He received a lengthy standing ovation as he entered the House of Commons.

There were reports of up to 30 shots fired during the parliament attack, which happened shortly after soldier Cpl. Nathan Cirillo was gunned down at point blank range while posted at the National War Memorial.

The attack saw the heart of Ottawa put into lockdown for hours, amid fears other gunmen could be on the loose. But Canadian police say the attacker - identified as 32-year-old Michael Zehaf-Bibeau from Montreal - acted alone.

Terrorism, says PM

Prime Minister Stephen Harper has called the shooting Canada's second terrorist attack in three days. He has made a clear link between the Ottawa attack and the events on Monday, when 25-year-old Martin Rouleau - a convert to an extremist form of Islam - ran down two soldiers with his car near Montreal, killing one of them. Rouleau was also shot dead at the scene.

Harper told lawmakers on Thursday he would expedite plans to toughen up security laws - including giving more powers of detention and surveillance to security agencies.

"They need to be much strengthened, and I assure you, Mr Speaker, that work which is already under way will be expedited," he told the House of Commons.

Canadian national newspaper The Globe and Mail quoted federal sources as saying that the Ottawa gunman had been recently designated a "high-risk traveler" by the Canadian government. The paper's sources said his passport had been confiscated. Initial sources suggested that Zehaf-Bibeau was a recent convert to Islam.

Gunman's mother speaks out

The gunman's mother has said she is devastated by the incident.

"No words can express the sadness we are feeling at this time. We are so sad that a man lost his life. He has lost everything and he leaves behind a family that must feel nothing but pain and sorrow," Susan Bibeau told the Associated Press, referring to the family of the dead soldier.

Bibeau said she was largely estranged from her son. "I, his mother, spoke with him last week over lunch, I had not seen him for over five years before that ... once again we are so sorry."

jr/sb (Reuters, AP, AFP)