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London's new Muslim mayor pledges to be mayor for all

London's new Muslim mayor pledges to be mayor for all

By ASSOCIATED PRESS

Sadiq Khan, Labour Party candidate, speaks in front of Zac Goldsmith, Conservative Party candidate, after winning the London mayoral elections, at City Hall in London, on Saturday, May 7, 2016. Photo: Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP

LONDON: Sadiq Khan has a simple, striking message for Londoners: He's going to be a mayor for all. To emphasise his message, Khan celebrated his landslide election victory Saturday in a multi-faith ceremony at a riverside Anglican cathedral. He says he's determined to be an approachable Everyman for his city of 8.2 million — including a million residents who, like him, happen to be Muslim. His Labour Party candidacy to lead London triumphed in the face of a Conservative campaign trying to tar him as sympathetic to Islamic extremists. Leading Muslim Conservatives expressed shame and anger Saturday over their own party's attacks on Khan, a London-born son of Pakistani immigrants who became a human rights lawyer, lawmaker and now mayor. READ ALSO: Labour’s Khan becomes first Muslim mayor of London after bitter campaign