Not less than 40 world leaders and about 1.2 to 1.6 million people streamed into the heart of Paris on Sunday for a rally of national unity in honor of the 17 victims of three days of terror. French officials claimed the march to be the largest demonstration in the nation’s history, with the Interior Ministry calling the event “unprecedented” and also stated that around 3.7 million people across France took place in rallies. AP reports:
The aftermath of the attacks remained raw, with video emerging of one of the gunmen killed during police raids pledging allegiance to the Islamic State group and detailing how the attacks were going to unfold. Also, a new shooting was linked to that gunman, Amedy Coulibaly, who was killed Friday along with the brothers behind a massacre at satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo in nearly simultaneous raids by security forces.”Today, Paris is the capital of the world,” said French President Francois Hollande . “Our entire country will rise up toward something better.”
Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas were among the leaders attending, as were top representatives of Russia and Ukraine.
Rallies were also planned in London, Madrid and New York — all attacked by al-Qaida-linked extremists — as well as Cairo, Sydney, Stockholm, Tokyo and elsewhere.
