CANADA: France expresses solidarity with Canada following parliament attack

Record ID: 355025

  • Title: CANADA: France expresses solidarity with Canada following parliament attack
  • Date: 23rd October 2014
  • Summary: PARIS, FRANCE (OCTOBER 23, 2014) (REUTERS) FRENCH FLAG FRENCH PRESIDENT FRANCOIS HOLLANDE WALKING DOWN STEPS OF ELYSEE PALACE, SHAKING HANDS UP PRESIDENT OF THE SOCIALIST AND DEMOCRAT GROUP AT THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT GIANNI PITTELLA PRESIDENT OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT MARTIN SCHULZ GETTING OUT OF CAR, SHAKING HANDS WITH HOLLANDE HOLLANDE AND SCHULZ SHAKING HANDS / SCHULZ
  • Embargoed: 7th November 2014 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: France
  • Country: France
  • Topics: Crime,International Relations,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVADKUAJF7A7XHZWWL3YHRIIUDRZ
  • Story Text: French President Francois Hollande condemned on Thursday (October 23) the fatal gunman attack in the Canadian parliament and said identifying those who intend to leave their home countries to join jihad fighters abroad should be a top priority for governments.
    "We must express our support, notably to Prime Minister Harper who was present, on site -- as were the leaders of other political families. But we must also draw all the conclusions and I have indicated what those conclusions are. To follow these people who are identified as having access to information or networks that are inspired by terrorism, who may have at some stage intended to join a fight far from their country in the name of a so-called jihad and who are in contact with others who can supply them with weapons," Hollande told a news conference after a EU Socialist leaders meeting in Paris.
    Shortly after a gunman shot dead a soldier at the National War Memorial in central Ottawa on Wednesday, a man armed with a shotgun burst into the Centre Block of Parliament, pursued by police. He died after dozens of shots rang out a few yards away from where Harper was talking to his legislators.
    It was unclear whether there was any connection between Wednesday's shootings and an attack on Monday when a convert to Islam ran down two Canadian soldiers with his car, killing one, near Montreal, before being shot dead by police in the first fatal attack on Canadian soil tied to Islamic militants.
    Hollande announced that France had carried out a third series of airstrikes in Iraq on Thursday morning and said that Islamic state fighters should be defeated in Iraq and Syria.
    "We have to ensure that the terrorists of Daesch (Islamic State) in Syria and in Iraq are defeated. There was a new French strike this morning which reached its goal and I convened a defence meeting yesterday to ease and facilitate the beginning of these operations," he said.
    Hollande also called for co-ordinated policies between EU countries to fight Ebola and make sure appropriate measures are taken to detect people carrying the virus.
    "An epidemic does not have borders. What can happen in one part of the world is not limited to this region. We were able to talk about this to co-ordinate the efforts, to find the necessary funding to allow the repatriation of medical staff in the best conditions and to ensure that measures are being taken in every country in order to detect carriers of the virus and be able to act," he said.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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