However, a handful of the victims’ families boycotted Friday’s ceremony, saying the government failed to take sufficient measures to protect the nation in the wake of the jihadist shootings at Charlie Hebdo satirical newspaper and a Jewish supermarket in Paris in January.
Advertisement
Giving a poignant and defiant speech, President Francois Hollande vowed to destroy Islamic State and urged French nationals to continue to visit bars, restaurants and cultural and sporting events.
He pointed out to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
“I promise you solemnly that France will do everything to destroy the army of the fanatics who carried out these crimes”, he said. France’s military provided the only images of Friday’s ceremony, and no one without an invitation was permitted inside. A total of 130 people were killed and more than 350 others were wounded in France’s worst terror attacks. Sixty-nine people are still in hospital following the November 13 attacks, according to a joint statement from the Paris public hospitals. The Belgian government says he may be armed and risky and could be plotting further attacks.
The father of the youngest of those killed, 17-year-old schoolgirl Lola Ouzounian, stayed away in protest against the “disastrous policy” of France and its “interference” in the Middle East and its role in toppling the Libyan dictator, Muammar Gaddafi.
They have the cult of death, but we have love of life, ‘ Mr Hollande said. Her brother, Francois-Xavier, 29, was among the 130 people killed on November 13. The reading of the victims’ names, accompanied by photos of their faces beamed onto a giant screen, was followed by a minute’s silence, then a solo cello playing Bach’s Sarabande. The national anthem, which became a symbol of the country’s resilience from the moment the terrified crowd filed out of the Stade de France in song, will ring out.
The terrorists were also planning to disrupt the education and transportation systems in the French capital, Reuters said.
This theory may have some credence with French police discovering what they believe to be an abandoned suicide bomb vest in a dust bin in Paris this evening. We will participate in sports gatherings great and small, ” Hollande said.
Advertisement
He added: “We will keep going to the stadiums, and especially our beloved national stadium in Saint-Denis”.
