Charlie Hebdo to publish Mohammad cartoon on front page

Prime Minister Manuel Valls delivers a speech during a session at the National Assembly in Paris January 13, 2015 to pay respects to the victims of last week's Islamist militant attacks. [Photo/Agencies]

GUN BATTLE

On Sunday, at least 3.7 million people throughout France marched in support for Charlie Hebdo and freedom of expression. World leaders linked arms to lead more than one million people through Paris in an unprecedented homage to the victims.

Three days of violence ended on Friday with a siege at the Jewish grocery in Paris where four hostages and a gunman were killed. Shortly before that, police killed the Hebdo attackers in a gun battle at a print works northwest of the city.

In the wake of the violence, Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said 10,000 troops were being deployed at sensitive sites including synagogues, mosques and airports.

President Francois Hollande's government has avoided referring to the Maghreb and African roots of the three killers. It has also sought to discredit their claim to be acting in the name of Islam, calling them "fanatics".

However, France's Islamic council called on the government to step up protection of mosques, saying that at least 50 anti-Islamic acts had been reported since the attack.

Abdallah Zekri, head of the National Observatory against Islamophobia, said Muslim sites such as Paris's main mosque were not getting the same protection as Jewish synagogues or schools.

"There are websites out there calling for the murder of Muslim leaders and the torching of Muslim religious sites," he told France Info. "Let's stop the double standards."

European leaders fear the events in France will add to rising anti-immigrant sentiment in Europe. On Monday, a record 25,000 anti-Islamist protesters marched through the German city of Dresden, many holding banners with anti-immigrant slogans.

Le Drian said the government would need to review some of its military capabilities following the attacks and raised the prospect of reconsidering the severely strained military budget when its long-term spending plan comes up for review later this year in parliament.

On Tuesday, the parliament voted overwhelmingly to approve France's continued participation in air raids against Islamic State in Iraq. One of last week's killers cited France's military strikes against Muslims as a motivation for his acts.

"Islamic State is a terrorist army with fighters from everywhere," Le Drian told Europe 1 radio. "It is an international army that has to be wiped out and that is why we are part of the coalition."

 

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