- Title: FRANCE-SHOOTING/KERRY ARRIVAL "Our hearts are with you", Kerry tells Hollande
- Date: 16th January 2015
- Summary: PARIS, FRANCE (JANUARY 16, 2015) (REUTERS) ***WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE JOHN KERRY AND FRENCH FOREIGN MINISTER LAURENT FABIUS ENTERING ROOM, SHAKING HANDS VARIOUS OF KERRY AND FABIUS MEETING EXTERIORS OF FRENCH FOREIGN MINISTRY
- Embargoed: 31st January 2015 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: France
- Country: France
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVA6HM9G6GU7O7THC4156RKEG0H2
- Story Text: U.S. Secretary of States John Kerry told French President Francois Hollande on Friday (January 16) that the unity of the French people in the wake of last week's violence "was a great lesson to the world".
Seventeen victims died in three days of violence that began on January 7 with an attack on the offices of satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo and ended with a hostage-taking in a kosher supermarket. Police forces killed the three attackers during assaults.
Kerry met French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius early on Friday before greeting President Francois Hollande with a hug in the courtyard of the Elysee presidential palace.
During their meeting, Hollande drew a parallel with the September 11, 2001 attacks in New York.
Senior U.S. officials were absent from a commemoration march held in Paris on Sunday (January 11) attended by dozens of world leaders. President Barack Obama's administration conceded that was an omission.
"The American people watched you, and your team, and indeed all the government lead with great elegance and grace through this week, in these difficult times. And we watched the people of France stand together with a great sense of potency, unity. It was a great lesson to the world and once again France proved its commitment to freedom, to passion of ideas and has made an important statement to the world. So our hearts are with you and it's a pleasure to be here," Kerry said.
During the meeting, Hollande asked Kerry to forward his thanks to U.S. President Barack Obama for his support over last week violence, a written statement released by the French presidency said. The two also agreed to further increase bilateral cooperation in anti-terror fight.
France is its highest alert level since the attack on Charlie Hebdo last Wednesday (January 7). Overnight, French police arrested a dozen people suspected of helping the three Islamist militant gunmen involved in last week's attacks, the city prosecutor's office said.
Kerry and Hollande also discussed the crisis in Ukraine, Syria, Irak and Libya, the communique said. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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