Millions take part in Paris unity march

MILLIONS strong, they came together in a sign of unity but also defiance that France would not be bowed by a week that saw 17 lives lost to home-grown ­terrorists.

Demonstrators in Paris carry a representation of Charlie Hebdo editor Charb. Picture: Getty

Led by more than 40 world leaders and chanting “Liberté”, Parisians marched through the streets of the French capital, seeking to reclaim their city from the fear that has gripped it during the past days.

France’s interior ministry said the event was the biggest public demonstration in the country’s history, with some estimates putting the size of the crowd at more than three million.

President François Hollande proclaimed Paris “the capital of the world” for the day as the city began the healing process, following the attacks on the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo and a Jewish supermarket.

But questions remain over whether more could have been done to prevent the attacks amid claims the French authorities stopped monitoring two of the terrorists six months ago after deeming them “low risk”.

Yesterday, a video emerged of Amedy Coulibaly, who killed four at the kosher supermarket, pledging allegiance to the group Islamic State and detailing how the attacks unfolded. Meanwhile, officials in Yemen said brothers Said and Cherif Kouachi, who gunned down 12 at the Charlie Hebdo offices, had travelled there via Oman in 2011 for weapons training in the deserts of Marib, an al-Qaeda stronghold.

On the streets of Paris, Prime Minister David Cameron joined leaders including German chancellor Angela Merkel, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas.

Families of the victims, many weeping and embracing, were also at the front of the march.

Police said the turnout was “without precedent”, with only an event to mark the liberation of Paris from the Nazis in 1944 coming close in size.

The interior ministry confirmed that between 1.2 and 1.6 million people had gathered in Paris for the march, with that number swelling to 3.7 million when groups marching in other parts of France were included in the total. The event was held amid unprecedented levels of security, with France remaining on high alert following one of the bloodiest weeks in its recent history.

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More than 5,500 police and soldiers were deployed yesterday across the country, about half of them to protect the march. The others were guarding synagogues, mosques, schools and other sites.

Police marksmen took up positions on rooftops, while drains were scoured for bombs in advance of the event.

“Today, Paris is the capital of the world,” Mr Hollande said. “Our entire country will rise up toward something better.”

Events were also held in London, Madrid and New York – all of which have been attacked by al-Qaeda-linked extremists – as well as Cairo, Sydney, Stockholm, Tokyo and elsewhere. In Trafalgar Square, large crowds were joined by French Ambassador Sylvie Bermann, who said the shows of unity were “very ­important”.

She said: “The message is fight against terrorism, defend our voices, defend our freedoms of opinion and expression.

“Everybody wanted to participate and everybody is ­concerned.”

In Paris, Mr Cameron and Mr Hollande were among those who broke into spontaneous applause amid cheers, chants of “Charlie, Charlie” and choruses of the French national anthem La Marseillaise as the march got under way from the Place de la Republique.

The huge crowds set off along two routes towards Place de la Nation, many holding placards with the slogan which has come to represent Paris’s defiance: “Je Suis Charlie”.

A massive pencil bearing the words “not afraid” was carried through the crowd, while others raised posters to create a giant image depicting the eyes and glasses of the magazine’s murdered editor-in-chief Stephane Charbonnier.

The three days of terror began on Wednesday when the Kouachi brothers stormed the newsroom at Charlie Hebdo, killing 12 people.

Al-Qaeda’s branch in Yemen said it directed the attack by the masked gunmen to avenge the honour of the prophet Muhammad, a frequent target of the magazine’s satire. On Thursday, police said Coulibaly killed a policewoman on the outskirts of Paris.

On Friday, while the Kouachi brothers holed up in a printing plant near Charles de Gaulle Airport, Coulibaly seized hostages inside a kosher market in Paris.

The stand-offs ended at dusk on Friday with near-simultaneous raids that left all three gunmen dead. Four hostages at the store were also killed.

Last night, the hunt continued for Coulibaly’s 26-year-old partner, Hayat Boumeddiene, who is thought to have fled France in the days before the attacks.

According to the Turkish ­authorities, Boumeddiene – now France’s most-wanted woman – may be in Syria after flying to Istanbul more than a week ago.

Yesterday, it also emerged that bullet casings found at the site where a jogger was shot and wounded on Wednesday evening matched those used in the siege at the supermarket on Friday.

In another twist, the former spiritual guide to one of the gunmen is known to have been working at the same hospital where some of the massacre victims were taken.

A spokeswoman for Paris hospitals confirmed French media reports that Farid Benyettou, who was convicted in 2008 of being a jihadist recruiter, is a trainee nurse at the emergency department of Pitie-Salpetriere Hospital. Benyettou, whose past was known to administrators and whose training is almost over, was taken off the roster as a precaution.

Scrutiny has fallen on how closely the Kouachi brothers were monitored amid claims that surveillance of them was stopped six months ago.

Prosecutors have said there were 500 calls made between Coulibaly and the Kouachis, but it is has not been confirmed how long they were in contact.

Five people who were held in connection with the attacks were freed late on Saturday, leaving no-one in custody, according to the Paris prosecutor’s office.

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