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Brenton Tarrant, 28, appeared in court on Saturday over attacks on the mosque.
The main suspect of the mosque shooting that killed 49 people in New Zealand Friday appeared in court for a single murder charge.
The Australian Brenton Tarrant, 28, appeared on the dock in white shirt and prison handcuffs. Additional charges should be laid against him.
PM Jacinda Ardern said Mr. Tarrant had five firearms and one firearms license, adding, "Our gun laws will change."
Two others are in detention. None of the detained persons had criminal records.
Mr. Tarrant has been remanded without a plea and is scheduled to appear again in court on 5 April.
The first victim of the attack on Friday was named by his family Daoud Nabi, 71, who left Afghanistan to settle in New Zealand in the 1980s.
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Omar Nabi holds a phone with a picture of his father Daoud in court
The identity of the other victims has not yet been unveiled.
In total, 48 people were injured during the shooting. Among the wounded are two young boys aged two and thirteen, eleven of whom are being cared for at the Christchurch hospital who are in critical critical-care condition, said Surgical Department Chief Greg Robertson.
Bangladesh, India, and Indonesia all claim that some of their citizens have been killed and others are missing.
On Saturday, the mayor of Christchurch, Lianne Dalziel, expressed her "revulsion" to this "act of terrorism" and expressed her solidarity with the victims.
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"We welcomed new people to our city, they are our friends, our neighbors," she told reporters. "We want to come together to support them."
She added that the flags would float at half mast on the city's government buildings "until further notice".
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Security remains tight in Christchurch. All mosques in New Zealand have been closed.
How events happened
A first attack was reported at Al Noor Mosque in central Christchurch during Friday prayers at 1:40 pm (0040 GMT).
An armed man drove to the front door, entered and fired on the faithful for about five minutes.
The shooter, who broadcast the live attack from a camera mounted on his head, identified himself as Brenton Tarrant in the footage, which showed him shooting men, women and children.
The gunman allegedly drove about 5 km to another mosque in the suburb of Linwood, where the second shooting took place.
A witness recounted how one of the faithful had managed to disarm the man, who was rushing outside in a car.
- The role of social media in the Christchurch attack
- The security of British mosques in the study
It is not known where the arrests took place.
Police said they recovered firearms from both mosques and discovered explosive devices in a car belonging to one of the suspects.
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According to the latest census figures, Muslims make up about 1.1% of the 4.25 million inhabitants of New Zealand.
Since the late 1990s, New Zealand has welcomed refugees from various war-torn countries.
The main suspect
The main suspect had "traveled around the world with sporadic periods in New Zealand," Premier Ardern told reporters.
"I would not describe him as a long-term resident," she said without officially identifying him.
"The offender was in possession of a firearms license, and I was informed that it had been acquired in November 2017," said Ms. Ardern.
She said the New Zealand intelligence services had opened investigations on far-right extremists, but added: "The individual accused of murder did not attract attention intelligence services and the police for extremism ".
- What do we know about suspects?
As a result of Saturday's attacks, social media accounts on behalf of Brenton Tarrant were used to publish a long racist document in which the author identified the mosques that were later attacked.
The man says that he started planning an attack after visiting Europe in 2017 and being irritated by the events that took place there.
The document entitled "The Great Replacement" – a phrase of French origin and which has become a rallying cry for European anti-immigration extremists.
Global reaction
"It is clear that this can now only be described as a terrorist attack," Ardern told reporters.
The President of the United States, Donald Trump, has presented "his warmest sympathies and best wishes" to New Zealand. "The United States stands with New Zealand for all we can do, God bless everyone!" he wrote.
British Prime Minister Theresa May presented her "most sincere condolences to the people of New Zealand".
The Queen stated that she was "deeply saddened by the horrendous events that took place today in Christchurch, Prince Philip and I extend our condolences".
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she "cried" with New Zealanders for their fellow citizens who were badaulted and murdered by racist hate while peacefully praying in their mosques ".
And French President Emmanuel Macron called the attack "odious attack" and said that France stood "against any form of extremism".
What are the weapons laws of New Zealand?
In New Zealand, the minimum legal age for owning a firearm is 16 years, or 18 years for semi-automatic military style weapons.
All gun owners must have a license, but most individual weapons do not necessarily have to be registered – New Zealand is one of the few countries where this is the case.
Applicants for firearms licenses must pbad an audit of their criminal and medical records, including factors such as mental health and domestic violence.
Once the permit is issued, gun owners can buy as many weapons as they want.
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