World leaders join Paris march of 'millions' for attack victims

[Lite Beer]

World leaders join Paris march of 'millions' for attack victims

People holding a banner in a demonstration yesterday (January 10). Photo AFP.

PARIS: Millions of people were expected to join a march through Paris today (January 11) in solidarity with the victims of the Islamist attacks, with dozens of world leaders to attend the show of support for France.

French Prime Minister Manuel Valls predicted the massive turnout to honour the 17 killed in the attacks which targeted a satirical magazine, kosher supermarket and police.

"I have no doubt that millions of citizens will come to express their love of liberty, their love of fraternity," he told thousands gathered Saturday (January 10) near where a gunman killed four hostages at the supermarket.

France has deployed thousands of police and troops to beef up security ahead of the march, which follows rallies across France on Saturday, which drew more than 700,000 in support of the victims of the three-day killing spree.

"The real battle is to defend freedom of thought," said 40-year-old Yamina, tears in her eyes, at a rally in the southern city of Marseille.

A security force of around 2,200 will guard the route of Sunday's march, which will run three kilometres (1.9 miles) from the historic Place de la Republique to Place de la Nation in the east of the capital, the interior minister said, with snipers stationed on rooftops.

Dozens of world leaders including British Prime Minister David Cameron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu were set to attend Sunday's march.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas and the king and queen of Jordan are also among those set to take part.

Public transport will be free to ease access into and throughout Paris and international train operator Thalys said it was also cutting fares to the French capital on Sunday.

Far-right leader Marine Le Pen urged her supporters to attend rallies outside Paris, but not in the capital, denouncing the exclusion of her Front National party from preparations for the event.

The three gunmen responsible for the three-day reign of terror were shot dead by police on Friday (January 9), with investigators trying to track down the girlfriend of one of them.

Despite earlier being described as "armed and dangerous", security sources later revealed that 26-year-old Hayat Boumeddiene was not in fact in France at the time of the killings.

Her partner Amedy Coulibaly shot dead a young policewoman on Thursday (January 8) and then killed four hostages in a siege at a Jewish supermarket in Paris on Friday.

While police initially suspected Boumeddiene may have had a role in her partner's violent acts, a Turkish security source said she arrived in Turkey on January 2 and had since likely travelled on to Syria.

The three-day killing spree began Wednesday (January 7) at the office of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo that saw Cherif and Said Kouachi massacre 12 people including some of the country's best-known cartoonists. A day later, Coulibaly shot dead the policewoman.

The massive manhunt for the two brothers developed into a car chase Friday and then a tense standoff as they took one person hostage in a printing firm northeast of Paris.

The small town of Dammartin-en-Goele was transformed into what looked like a war zone, with elite forces deploying snipers, helicopters and heavy-duty military equipment as they surrounded the pair.

With all eyes on the siege outside Paris, suddenly explosions and gunfire shook the City of Light itself as Coulibaly stormed a Jewish supermarket on the eastern fringes of the capital.

In what President Francois Hollande called an "appalling anti-Semitic act", Coulibaly took terrified shoppers hostage hours before the Jewish Sabbath, killing four.

As the sun set, the brothers in Dammartin-en-Goele charged out of the building with guns blazing in a desperate last stand, before being cut down.

Within minutes, elite commando units moved in Paris against Coulibaly, who had threatened to execute his hostages unless the brothers were released.

Up to five people – including a three-year-old boy – survived hidden inside a refrigerator for five hours, with police pinpointing their location using their mobile phones, prosecutors and relatives said.

In the printing firm, the brothers took the manager hostage, later releasing him after he helped Said with a neck wound, while a second man hid beneath a sink upstairs.

After Friday's dramatic events, Hollande warned grimly that the threats facing France were not over -- comments followed by a chilling new threat from the Yemen-based Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula group.

AQAP top sharia official Harith al-Nadhari warned France to "stop your aggression against the Muslims" or face further attacks, in comments released by the SITE monitoring group.

German newspaper Bild said the bloodshed in France could signal the start of a wave of attacks in Europe, citing communications by Islamic State leaders intercepted by US intelligence.

It said the US National Security Agency had intercepted communications in which leaders of the jihadist group announced the next wave of attacks, the tabloid said in its Sunday edition, citing unnamed sources in the US intelligence services.

Questions are mounting over how the three gunmen slipped through the security net, and Valls admitted there had been "clear failings" in intelligence.

Cherif Kouachi, 32, was a known jihadist who was convicted in 2008 for involvement in a network sending fighters to Iraq.

His brother Said, 34, was known to have travelled to Yemen in 2011, where he received weapons training from AQAP.

It also emerged that the brothers had been on a US terror watch list "for years".

Coulibaly, 32 – who met Cherif Kouachi in prison – was sentenced to five years in prison in 2013 for his role in a failed bid to break an Algerian Islamist, Smain Ait Ali Belkacem, out of jail.

Coulibaly's mother and sisters on Saturday condemned his actions.

"We absolutely do not share these extreme ideas. We hope there will not be any confusion between these odious acts and the Muslim religion," they wrote in a statement.

Source: http://www.thephuketnews.com/world-leaders-join-paris-march-of-millions-for-attack-victims-50495.php

-- Phuket News 2015-01-11

[webfact]

Huge rally against terror attacks in Paris
Agencies

World leaders joined by relatives of those killed over past week

PARIS: -- Hundreds of thousands of people joined by world leaders flooded through Paris yesterday in a historic show of defiance and solidarity against terrorism following this week's Islamist attacks in the French capital.

As France mourned 17 victims of three days of bloodshed that included Jews and a Muslim police officer, the leaders of Israel and the Palestinian Authority were among those attending the mass rally.

Meanwhile, the United States announced yesterday in Paris during security ministers meeting that Washington will host a summit on February 18 on how to fight "violent extremism around the world" in the wake of the Paris attacks.

Speaking in the French capital after a meeting with European security ministers, US Attorney General Eric Holder said the meeting would take place in Washington DC under the auspices of President Barack Obama.

The gathering will "bring together all of our allies to discuss ways in which we can counteract this violent extremism that exists around the world," Holder said.

"Only if we work together, through sharing of information, by pooling our resources, will we ultimately be able to defeat those who are in a struggle with us about our fundamental values."

Interior ministers from a range of nations gathered in Paris yesterday said it was "essential" for Internet companies to cooperate in tackling terrorism.

"We forcefully noted the need for greater cooperation with Internet companies to guarantee the reporting and removal of illegal content, particularly content that makes apologies for terrorism or promotes violence or hate," said French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve.

In Germany, the offices of a German newspaper in Hamburg that reprinted Charlie Hebdo cartoons of the prophet Mohammed was hit by an arson attack early yesterday, police said.

Unidentified assailants threw stones and an incendiary device at the Hamburger Morgenpost around 2 am. Police in the northern German port city said a fire broke out in the paper's archive room but it was quickly extinguished and no one was hurt. "There is still no evidence, no claim of responsibility or other information" that connects the attack to the cartoons published on its front page this week, police spokeswoman Karina Sadowsky said.

In Paris, emotions were running high in the shell-shocked City of Light, with many of those gathering from all walks of life in tears as they came together under a banner of freedom of speech and liberty.

Family members of the 12 people killed during the massacre at the Charlie Hebdo weekly arrived yesterday at the huge rally against the attacks, AFP reported.

Each wore a white bandana on their head with the word "Charlie" written on it.

Lassina Traore, a 34-year-old French-born Muslim from the Ivory Coast, gently placed 17 candles at the foot of the monument at the Place de la Republique, heaped with tributes to the dead. The march was "a real sign of how strong France is. It shows that France is strong when she is united against these people," the consultant said.

Jacqueline Saad-Rouana, 70, said: "I want to show that we're not scared of the extremists. I want to defend freedom of expression."

Security was beefed up, with police snipers stationed on rooftops and plain-clothes officers among the crowd in a city still reeling from the attacks which left 12 dead at the Charlie Hebdo office and claimed four lives at a Jewish supermarket. A policewoman was also killed.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Huge-rally-against-terror-attacks-in-Paris-30251712.html


-- The Nation 2015-01-12

[zydeco]

Okay, now what? Nice parade. But what are the French going to do? Or was this it? A giant parade dedicated to doing nothing. My money is on the latter.

[Kitsune]

Charb said : "They can't kill me because if they do,there would be a national outrage"

He was wrong, there is a world outrage.

[webfact]

Millions rally for unity against terrorism in France
By ANGELA CHARLTON and THOMAS ADAMSON

PARIS (AP) — More than a million people surged through the boulevards of Paris behind dozens of world leaders walking arm-in-arm Sunday in a rally for unity described as the largest demonstration in French history. Millions more marched around the country and the world to repudiate three days of terror that killed 17 people and changed France.

Amid intense security and with throngs rivaling those that followed the liberation of Paris from the Nazis, the city became "the capital of the world" for a day, on a planet increasingly vulnerable to such cruelty.

More than 40 world leaders headed the somber procession — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas; Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov — setting aside their differences with a common rallying cry: We stand together against barbarity, and we are all Charlie.

At least 1.2 million to 1.6 million people streamed slowly through the streets behind them and across France to mourn the victims of deadly attacks on the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, a kosher supermarket and police officers — violence that tore deep into the nation's sense of security in a way some compared to Sept. 11 in the United States.

"Our entire country will rise up toward something better," French President Francois Hollande said.

Details of the attacks continued to emerge, with new video showing one of the gunmen pledging allegiance to the Islamic State group and detailing how the attacks were going to unfold. That gunman, Amedy Coulibaly, was also linked to a new shooting, two days after he and the brothers behind the Charlie Hebdo massacre were killed in nearly simultaneous police raids.

The attacks tested France's proud commitment to its liberties, which authorities may now curtail to ensure greater security. Marchers recognized this as a watershed moment.

"It's a different world today," said Michel Thiebault, 70.

Illustrating his point, there were cheers Sunday for police vans that wove through the crowds — a rare sight at the many demonstrations that the French have staged throughout their rebellious history, when protesters and police are often at odds.

Many shed the aloof attitude Parisians are famous for, helping strangers with directions, cheering and crying together. Sad and angry but fiercely defending their freedom of expression, the marchers honored the dead and brandished pens or flags of other nations.

Giant rallies were held throughout France and major cities around the world, including London, Madrid and New York — all attacked by al-Qaida-linked extremists — as well as Cairo, Sydney, Stockholm, Tokyo and elsewhere.

In Paris, the Interior Ministry said "the size of this unprecedented demonstration makes it impossible to provide a specific count," noting that the crowds were too big to fit on the official march route and spread to other streets.

Later, the ministry said 3.7 million marched throughout France, including roughly between 1.2 million and 1.6 million in Paris — but added that a precise count is impossible given the enormity of the turnout.

"I hope that at the end of the day everyone is united. Everyone — Muslims, Jews, Christians, Buddhists," said marcher Zakaria Moumni. "We are humans first of all, and nobody deserves to be murdered like that. Nobody."

On Republic Square, deafening applause rang out as the world leaders walked past, amid tight security and an atmosphere of togetherness amid adversity. Families of the victims, holding each other for support, marched in the front along with the leaders and with journalists working for the Charlie Hebdo newspaper. Several wept openly.

"Je Suis Charlie" — "I Am Charlie," read legions of posters and banners. Many waved editorial cartoons, the French tricolor and other national flags.

As night fell on the unusually unified city, some lit candles.

"It's important to be here for freedom for tolerance and for all the victims. It's sad we had to get to this point for people to react against intolerance, racism and fascism," said Caroline Van Ruymbeke, 32.

The French president joined Netanyahu in a visit to a synagogue Sunday night as authorities sought to reassure the Jewish population — Europe's largest — that it is safe to stay in France. About 7,000 of France's half-million Jews emigrated to Israel last year amid concerns for their safety and the economy.

"The entire world is under attack" from radical Islam, Netanyahu said, citing attacks in cities from Madrid to Mumbai. He said these aren't isolated incidents but part of a "network of hatred" by radical groups.

At the synagogue, 17 candles were lit in tribute to the victims of the attacks. One was lit by a hostage at the kosher grocery store. The last was lit by two women whose sons were killed by Mohamed Merah, a radical Islamic gunman who attacked a Jewish school and paratroopers in southern France in 2012.

The U.S. was represented at the Paris rally by Ambassador Jane Hartley. At an international conference in India, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said the world stood with the people of France "not just in anger and in outrage, but in solidarity and commitment to the cause of confronting extremism and in the cause that extremists fear so much and that has always united our countries: freedom."

The three days of terror began Wednesday when brothers Said and Cherif Kouachi stormed the Charlie Hebdo newsroom, killing 12 people, including two police officers. Al-Qaida's branch in Yemen said it directed the attack to avenge the honor of the Prophet Muhammad, a frequent target of the weekly's barbs. Charlie Hebdo assailed Christianity, Judaism as well as officialdom of all stripes with its brand of sometimes crude satire.

On Thursday, police said Coulibaly killed a policewoman. The next day, he seized hostages at the kosher market while the Kouachi brothers were holed up at a printing plant near Charles de Gaulle airport. It ended at dusk Friday with raids that left all three gunmen dead. Four hostages at the market were also killed.

Five people held in connection with the attacks were freed late Saturday, leaving no one in custody, according to the Paris prosecutor's office. Coulibaly's widow, last seen near the Turkish-Syrian border, is still being sought.

France remains on high alert while investigators determine whether the attackers were part of a larger extremist network. More than 5,500 police and soldiers were deployed Sunday across France, guarding marches, synagogues, mosques, schools and other sites.

"The terrorists want two things: they want to scare us and they want to divide us," Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius told TV channel iTele. "We must do the opposite: We must stand up and we must stay united."
___

Associated Press writers Elaine Ganley, Sylvie Corbet, Trung Latieule, Oleg Cetinic, John Leicester and Elaine Ganley contributed from Paris. Aron Heller contributed from Jerusalem.


-- (c) Associated Press 2015-01-12

[keemapoot]

Well, here's a group we normally despise doing something good:

Hackers Declare War On Al Qaeda To Avenge Charlie Hebdo Massacre

Read more at http://www.inquisitr.com/1745681/hackers-declare-war-on-al-qaeda-to-avenge-charlie-hebdo-massacre/#u6wxtVSZSKgxL8XA.99

[Kitsune]

Okay, now what? Nice parade. But what are the French going to do? Or was this it? A giant parade dedicated to doing nothing. My money is on the latter.

Not the time not the place

You don't debate politics at funerals

Thank you for respecting our grief

[Kitsune]

[Kitsune]

Charb eyes on The Guardian frontpage

[Kitsune]

Angela and François united ... at last !

[Choctastic]

Wonderful. The Empire's war criminals join a march to posture and pretend they love freedom of speech and democracy and the people applaud mightily. This is doubleplusgood. Can't wait for the French or European 'Patriot Act' to appear. It's already been written of course. Just needed a 'European 9-11' pretext. The politicians and media are playing their parts well.

The 'I am Charlie' pish is straight out of a PR agency, while the selective, media 'atrocity porn' beggars the question... 'what are they up to this time?' Where were the politicians when innocent wedding parties of 400 were being wiped out by predator drone? Where were they when the Empire launched its criminal war in Iraq? Where are the marches for the millions butchered by the Empire's 'humanitarian' slaughters?

'Freedom of speech!' must be defended at all costs... unless the cartoon involves Israel... http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/jewish-world-news/1.608811

'Anti-Muslim' cartoons good. 'Anti-Jew' cartoons bad. Got it.

Edited January 12, 2015 by Choctastic

[FireMedic]

Obama can't attend. He's playing golf that day.

[Ulysses G.]

He does not want to address the fact that this attack was caused by violent Islamic extremism.

[Ulysses G.]

Can't wait for the French or European 'Patriot Act' to appear. It's already been written of course. Just needed a 'European 9-11' pretext.

The lunatic fringe have free speech too, it seems.

[keemapoot]

He does not want to address the fact that this attack was caused by violent Islamic extremism.

Yes, absolutely, if you scour the press, you see little mention of the US involvement in these functions, with the exception of US officials attending the security meetings. I think the US wants to stay out of this and let any change of security attitude develop among Europeans.

[rickirs]

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

Okay, now what? Nice parade. But what are the French going to do? Or was this it? A giant parade dedicated to doing nothing. My money is on the latter.

If all the French did was to stand in silent protest, it would far more than the Thais who lost their freedom of expression. But I can appreciate your disinterest in humanity, it's your right to exercise.

[Suffinator]

Okay, now what? Nice parade. But what are the French going to do? Or was this it? A giant parade dedicated to doing nothing. My money is on the latter.

It's up to the people, it always it... the masses will always hold power despite what politicians like to think.

http://meebal.com/paris-terrorist-shooting-time-make-stand/

[rickirs]

From the Thai military-controlled government ....... SILENCE

From The Nation ....... NO OPINION

[Choctastic]

He does not want to address the fact that this attack was caused by violent Islamic extremism.

Which was caused by...?

[DaveinAsia]

Where is the march for the 2000 victims of terrorism in Nigeria? Was there a march for the 200+ murdered in Peshawar? Does anyone know why 100.000's march for 12 deaths and not for 100's or 1000's of deaths?

[Choctastic]

Where is the march for the 2000 victims of terrorism in Nigeria? Was there a march for the 200+ murdered in Peshawar? Does anyone know why 100.000's march for 12 deaths and not for 100's or 1000's of deaths?

It's called 'Classical Conditioning'.

[Baerboxer]

From the Thai military-controlled government ....... SILENCE

From The Nation ....... NO OPINION

Unlike you - who wants to turn this into a bashing exercise for those who oppose your beloved hero.

Have some respect

[notmyself]

He does not want to address the fact that this attack was caused by violent Islamic extremism.

Which was caused by...?

Indeed, 'in the name of' is just PC BS, the correct term is 'as a result of'. Until this is addressed, more innocent lives will continue to be lost. 17 gunned down leaving partners, children and family... very sad.

[Steely Dan]

Mahmood Abbas attended, quite ironic considering had the attacks occurred in Israel he would have named a square after the murderers.

[Baerboxer]

He does not want to address the fact that this attack was caused by violent Islamic extremism.

Which was caused by...?

Moslem extremist fanatics who have been conditioned and brainwashed by religious fanatics who hide behind religion.

Thankfully, the vast majority of Moslems see through these charlatans and want no part in the violence propagated by the lunatic fringe.

[Credo]

"Obama can't attend. He's playing golf that day."

"He does not want to address the fact that this attack was caused by violent Islamic extremism. "

About the last thing that the French would need is for the President of the US to show up. It would be a security nightmare and would detract from the intended purpose.

I am pretty sure that the thoughts of most of the US citizens are firmly with the French and I am sure that the US gov't will give its full backing to French support to end terrorism.

Europe needs to review its security issues on its own terms. There are differences between the problems faced by Europe and those faced by the US. The US grandstanding at an event such as this one would be counterproductive on many levels.

The intelligence services of the US will work closely with all the European countries on the issue of terrorism.

[notmyself]

Moslem extremist fanatics who have been conditioned and brainwashed by religious fanatics who hide behind religion.

How are these 'religious fanatics' able to hide behind religion?

[Steely Dan]

He does not want to address the fact that this attack was caused by violent Islamic extremism.

Which was caused by...?

By whatever Islamic extremists read or listen to of course, just as it has been for over a thousand years. Edited January 12, 2015 by Steely Dan

[JOC]

Where was the Unity March and the world-leaders a couple of months back in Gaza City??

After Israel killed more than 2000 people, most of them civilians and among them more than 500 children!!

No wonder that our Arab friends sometimes question Western hypocrisy and double standards!!

Edited January 12, 2015 by JOC

[CMNightRider]

I guess the reason Obama, failed to join the free world leaders for this march in Paris, is he will be leading from behind from the golf course. Maybe Obama, didn't show because he didn't want to mention or hear other world leaders talking about radical Islam.

Remember when Obama said, "The future must not belong to those who slander the Prophet of Islam." "The sweetest sound I know is the Muslim call to prayer." Really Obama?

I listened to the "Muslim call to prayer," for 2-1/2 years while working in Afghanistan, and when I would visit Dubai. I found it a little interesting at first, and as time went by irritating.

Obama is completely void of any leadership skills, and is an embarrassment to the United States. I can't help wonder what world leaders think about Obama's no show in Paris.