Huge rally against terror attacks in 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.