NEW YORK, NEW YORK (ANS – Nov.1, 2017) — World leaders spoke out on Wednesday, voicing solidarity for the United States following Tuesday’s shocking attack in New York City.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed his support for US President Trump and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio after the deadly attack which left 8 dead. He stated, “together we will defeat terrorism.”

Pope Francis condemned the recent deadly attacks in New York City, Afghanistan and Somalia, saying militants were abusing the name of God to justify their violence. “I am profoundly saddened by the terrorist attacks in these recent days in Somalia, Afghanistan and yesterday in New York.”

United States President Donald Trump took a political stance, tweeting that he supports a merit based visa program and criticizing the current lottery-style visa program on Wednesday. The attacker arrived to the US from Uzbekistan through use of the “Diversity Visa Lottery Program.”

According to the Jerusalem Post, Uzbekistan told the US president on Wednesday it was ready to do everything it could to help investigate an attack in New York in which an Uzbek-born man is suspected of killing eight people by mowing them down in a truck.

Uzbekistan spoke out after a US law enforcement official described the suspect as a US immigrant born in Uzbekistan, a landlocked, predominantly Muslim country in Central Asia that was part of the Soviet Union until its collapse in 1991.

Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev made the offer of help in a letter of condolence to Trump in which he condemned the attack as “extremely brutal” and said there could be no justification for such violence.

“From our side, we are ready to use all our power and resources to cooperate in the investigation of this terrorist act,” Mirziyoyev wrote in the letter, which was posted on his country’s Foreign Ministry’s website. “We express our solidarity with the US people.”

The Jerusalem Post said the attack — the bloodiest single attack on New Yorkers since September 11, 2001, when suicide hijackers crashed two jetliners into the World Trade Center — is a challenge for Mirziyoyev, who assumed office at the end of 2016, and is trying to slowly open up his country after decades of authoritarian rule.

It also shines an uncomfortable light on Islamist militancy in the wider region which has supplied Islamic State (IS) in Syria and Iraq with thousands of fighters.

An Uzbek Foreign Ministry official told reporters earlier on Wednesday it was investigating reports that the attacker was a citizen of the Central Asian nation.

The newspaper said if the attacker’s identity is confirmed, it would be the fourth deadly attack to be carried out by an Uzbek national or ethnic Uzbek this year.

On New Year’s day, an Uzbek gunman burst into a nightclub in the Turkish city of Istanbul and killed 39 people. In April, an ethnic Uzbek man born in Kyrgyzstan blew up a metro train in the Russian city of St Petersburg, killing at least 14 people, and that same month an Uzbek man rammed a truck into a crowd in Stockholm, killing four people.  All the attacks were linked to or claimed by Islamic State (IS).

Dr. James Dobson, psychologist, Christian leader, and Founder and President of Family Talk, a nonprofit organization that produces his radio program, “Dr. James Dobson’s Family Talk,” issued the following statement in response to yesterday’s terror attack in New York City that resulted to eight deaths and a dozen more injured.

“Every new act of terror that targets innocent lives is a tragic and terrible reminder of the evil that exists in our world. This particular attack is perhaps made even more painful by its proximity to the World Trade Center. Make no mistake, this is pure cowardice veiled in violence. True bravery belongs to the first responders and specifically the police officer credited with helping end this violence before even more were injured or killed.

“We pray for the people of New York, many of whom are likely reliving the pain of 9/11 all over again. We pray also for the families who have lost loved ones on what should have been a normal fall day like any other. Finally we pray for the end of the hateful ideology that gives birth to these senseless and barbaric acts.”

Dr. Dobson the author of more than 30 books dedicated to the preservation of the family. Dr. Dobson served as an associate clinical professor of pediatrics at the University of Southern California School of Medicine for 14 years and on the attending staff of Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles for 17 years in the divisions of Child Development and Medical Genetics. He has been active in governmental affairs and has advised four U.S. presidents on family matters. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Southern California (1967) in the field of child development. He holds 18 honorary doctoral degrees, and was inducted in 2008 into The National Radio Hall of Fame. He is married to Shirley and they have two grown children, Danae and Ryan, and two grandchildren. The Dobsons reside in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Website | www.drjamesdobson.org   Twitter | @DrJamesCDobson

Dr. Ronnie Floyd, president of the National Day of Prayer, called on American pastors and churches to pray for victims of Manhattan attack.

In a statement, Floyd said: “Today every pastor in every church in America must pray for everyone affected by last night’s act of terror in New York City. We must pray specially for the families of the eight people who lost their lives and for those who were injured, for they will bear the physical and psychological scars of this terrible attack for the rest of their lives. Let’s pray with genuine faith and conviction, remembering the hope we have in Jesus, who said to us, ‘In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.’”

Dr. Ronnie Floyd is the senior pastor of Cross Church and president of the National Day of Prayer, which each year mobilizes millions of Americans to unified public prayer for the United States of America. He’s the immediate past president of the Southern Baptist Convention. Follow him on Twitter (@ronniefloyd), Instagram (@ronniefloyd) and Facebook.

Meanwhile, Bishop Joseph D’Souza, moderating bishop of the Good Shepherd Church of India and president of the All India Christian Council, released the following statement following the Oct. 31 attack in Manhattan, which left eight people dead and nearly a dozen wounded.

“I’m deeply grieved to hear terror has once again struck American soil and claimed the lives of eight innocent people, the majority which were foreign nationals from Argentina and Belgium. We must recognize that these violent attacks — wherever they’re committed and specially when they’re carried in the name of religion — are always an act of terror against the world.

“It’s in the interest of not only terrorism’s obvious targets, like America, Europe and the Middle East, but of the whole world to eradicate this evil once and for all. This latest attack in Manhattan should galvanize our world leaders to work even harder to make their countries safe, for their own citizens and for the citizens of their allies and friends.”

Most Rev. Dr. Joseph D’Souza is the Moderating Bishop of the Good Shepherd Church and Associated Ministries of India. He also serves as the president of the All India Christian Council.  He is the recipient of numerous awards and accolades for his work as a human rights activist. He is also the founder and international president of the Dalit Freedom Network. He can be reached at: info@gschurch.in

Read more at CHRISTIAN LEADERS RESPOND TO NEW YORK TERROR ATTACK.