Jakarta Globe – AFP, Jo Biddle, 16 Jan 2015
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US
Secretary of State John Kerry greets French president François Hollande (L)
with a hug at the Elysee Palace on January 16, 2015 in Paris as he visits after
France's deadly Islamist attacks (AFP Photo/Patrick Kovarik)
|
Paris (AFP)
- Secretary of State John Kerry clasped French President Francois Hollande in a
warm embrace Friday and said the US shared France's pain after last week's
terror attacks.
In an
unusual move, Hollande trotted down the steps of the Elysee Palace to greet
Kerry, who hugged the French president in front of a phalanx of photographers.
"I
know you know that we share the pain and the horror of everything that you went
through," said Kerry.
 |
US
Secretary of State John Kerry (C) and
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius
lay
a wreath for the victims of the attack on
Charlie Hebdo, on January 16,
2015
outside the magazine's office in Paris
(AFP Photo/Rick Wilking)
|
Hollande
said the French people "were victim of an exceptional terrorist
attack," likening last week's events to the September 11, 2001 attacks.
"We
must therefore together find the necessary response. And that is the (reason)
for (our) meeting today beyond friendship," said Hollande.
The United
States faced criticism for not sending a top-level representative to last
Sunday's march in Paris in the wake of the attacks, which drew 1.5 million
people onto the streets of the French capital and dozens of world leaders.
The White
House was forced to admit it erred in sending only its ambassador when most
countries were represented at head of state or ministerial level.
Kerry, a
noted Francophile who also speaks French, told his counterpart Laurent Fabius
that he was unable to come earlier because he was travelling in India and
Bulgaria.
Fabius told
reporters that he had "apologised" for his absence, which prompted
controversy on both sides of the Atlantic.
The top US
diplomat and Fabius laid a wreath of red roses and carnations as well as white
lilies at the Jewish supermarket where four people died in a siege, the last in
a spate of Islamist attacks over three days in and around the French capital.
'Great
elegance and grace'
 |
Pallbearers
hold the coffin of French
cartoonist and Charlie Hebdo editor
Stephane
"Charb" Charbonnier during his
funeral on January 16, 2015 in
Pontoise,
outside Paris (AFP Photo/Martin Bureau)
|
"We appreciate your comments about our common history. ... The American people watched you and your team indeed all of the (government) lead with great elegance and grace in this week," Kerry told Hollande.
Kerry and
Fabius later laid a wreath at the Charlie Hebdo offices, as the victims of that
attack continued to be laid to rest.
The burials
of three more members of the Charlie Hebdo team were taking place Friday, with
bagpipes playing "Amazing Grace" ringing out at the funeral of
Stephane Charbonnier, alias Charb, the editor-in-chief.
Since the
attacks, copies of the magazine have flown off the shelves with a print run of
five million compared to a normal circulation of 60,000.
Kerry also
visited the scene outside the Charlie Hebdo offices where a Muslim policeman
was gunned down by the two Islamist brothers Said and Cherif Kouachi.
With
ambassador Jane Hartley, Kerry placed a bowl of flowers on the spot which has
also become a makeshift shrine.
He then
stood silently for a minute with his head bowed before crossing himself.
Finally he
gave an emotional speech at Paris City Hall, much of it in French, where he
said: "We simply will not descend into despair."
"I
really wanted to come here to share a hug with all of Paris, old friends,"
he said, after what he termed the "living nightmare" of the attacks.
"I
wanted to express to you personally the sheer horror that all Americans
felt."
detained 12
people He then gave way to US singer James Taylor, who sang his hit
"You've Got a Friend."
 |
Crowds
gather for the funeral of French cartoonist and Charlie Hebdo editor
Stephane
"Charb" Charbonnier, on January 16, 2015 in Pontoise, outside Paris
(AFP Photo/Dominique Faget)
|
Leading
into the song with a few bars of the French national anthem "La
Marseillaise," Taylor also added a line "ton ami est la" -- a
loose translation of "you've got a friend."
The Kerry
visit came as the shell-shocked French capital remained on edge after last
week's attacks.
French
authorities detained 12 people overnight in the suburbs of Paris in connection
with the shootings, a judicial source said.
The nine
men and three women were to be questioned about "possible logistic
support" they may have given to the gunmen, in particular weapons and
vehicles, the source said.
Raids took
place in Montrouge just outside Paris, where gunman Amedy Coulibaly killed a
policewoman last week, Grigny where he grew up, Fleury-Merogis south of the
French capital and Epinay-sur-Seine north of the city.
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