Hollande praises siege police

PRESIDENT Francois Hollande has called on French people to stand together on Sunday, “to carry the values of democracy, liberty and pluralism”, in a live TV address to the nation following the dramatic conclusion of the sieges in Dammartin-en-Goele and Paris.

But he warned: “France has not seen the last of such threats. I want to call on the French for vigilance, unity and mobilisation.

“I call on you all for unity. This is our best weapon.”

He denounced the attack on the kosher store in Paris an anti-Semitic attack, and said: “We must demonstrate our determination to fight anything that might divide us, to be implacable against racism and anti-Semitism.”

It has emerged that the gunman who took 16 hostages at a Paris kosher food store had selected his target “because it was Jewish”.

Mr Hollande added that: “These fanatics … have nothing to do with Islam.”

He added: “We carry an ideal greater than ourselves and we should be able to defend it wherever it is threatened.”

He confirmed that four hostages were found dead after the police raid on the kosher store in Vincennes, to the east of the French capital, but insisted that anti-terror units had saved hostages’ lives and “neutralised” the terrorists.

He said: “I want to salute the courage, bravery, the efficiency of gendarmes and police officers and all those who participated in the operations. I want to tell them that we are proud, proud of them.”

British Prime Minister David Cameron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Italian prime minister Matteo Renzi, EU president Donald Tusk, and Spanish president Mariano Rajoy Brey have all said they will join the “Unity March” in Paris on Sunday. Mr Hollande said he would be proud to stand alongside them.

Earlier, US President Barack Obama had paid a surprise visit to the French Embassy in Washington DC to sign a Book of Condolence. In a speech in Tennessee this evening, he said: “France is our oldest ally. I want people of France to know that the United States stands with you today, stands with you tomorrow.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with the families who have been directly impacted. We grieve with you. We fight alongside you to uphold our values, the values that we share – universal values that bind us together as friends and as allies.

“In the streets of Paris, the world has seen once again what terrorists stand for. The have nothing to offer but hatred and suffering.

“We stand for freedom and hope and the dignity of all human beings. That is what the city of Paris represents to the world and that spirit will endure forever.”

Meanwhile, Marine Le Pen, leader of the far-right Front National, has yet not been formally invited to Sunday’s march. She has said on Twitter that the move has turned a moment for national unity into one of sectarianism and division.

Photo: Screengrab / France 2