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World leaders join Paris rally for victims
The presidents and politicians invited by French President Francois Hollande leave the Elysee Palace to participate in a march to honour the victims of the terrorist attacks and to show unity, in Paris, France,on Sunday. Three days of terror that ended on January 10 saw 17 people killed. AFP PHOTO
What you need to know:
- 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.
- In a foretaste of the demonstration, more than 700,000 people poured onto the streets of cities across France on Saturday, many carrying banners reading “Je suis Charlie” (I am Charlie), the tribute to Charlie Hebdo that has been the global rallying point in the wake of the slaughter.
- Along with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas, the king and queen of Jordan will be present alongside a host of top European leaders, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel and British Prime Minister David Cameron.
Hundreds of thousands of people joined by world leaders flooded Paris on Sunday 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.
