Charlie Hebdo attacks: World leaders join more than a million demonstrators at rallies in Paris and across France

PRESIDENTS and prime ministers joined anti-terror marchers in Paris in one of the most amazing shows of solidarity from world leaders.

PARIS, FRANCE - JANUARY 11: Demonstrators gather in Place de la Republique prior to a mass unity rally to be held in Paris following the recent terrorist attacks on January 11, 2015 in Paris, France. An estimated one million people are expected to converge in central Paris for the Unity March joining in solidarity with the 17 victims of this week's terrorist attacks in the country. French President Francois Hollande will lead the march and will be joined by world leaders in a sign of unity. The terrorist atrocities started on Wednesday with the attack on the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, killing 12, and ended on Friday with sieges at a printing company in Dammartin en Goele and a Kosher supermarket in Paris with four hostages and three suspects being killed. A fourth suspect, Hayat Boumeddiene, 26, escaped and is wanted in connection with the murder of a policewoman. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

MORE than 40 world leaders, their arms linked, marched through Paris on Sunday to rally for unity and freedom of expression and to honour 17 victims of three days of terrorist atrocities.

The leaders were heading a demonstration of more than a million people who converged on the capital after three gunmen attacked a newspaper office, kosher supermarket and police. More than a million also rallied in cities outside the capital and marches were held in several cities across Europe, including Berlin, Brussels and Madrid.

Deafening applause rang out over the square as the leaders walked past, amid tight security and an atmosphere of togetherness amid adversity.

Families of the victims, many weeping and embracing, were also at the front of the march along with surviving staff from the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo where a murderous rampage on Wednesday marked the beginning of this week’s terror nightmare. Patrick Pelloux, a Charlie Hebdo columnist, fell sobbing into the arms of French President Francois Hollande in an emotional embrace.

President Hollande walked arm in arm alongside an array of world leaders that included British leader David Cameron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi as well as leaders from as far afield as Mali and the Ukraine.

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Unity ... Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, French President Francois Hollande, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, European Union President Donald Tusk, Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, Jordan's Queen Rania, Jordan's King Abdullah II, Swiss President Simonetta Sommaruga, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko during the Unity rally. Picture: ERic Feferberg/AFP

All together ... World leaders join the crowds in Paris. Picture: AFP

With countries putting aside their differences in a rare show of unity Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas walked just a few feet from one another.

Senate president Stephen Parry was set to attend the march on behalf of Australia. United States’ Attorney General Eric Holder was in Paris for the terror talks but was not seen at the march. US President Barack Obama had already drawn criticism on social media and in the press for his non-attendance.

A sea of humanity flowed through Paris’ iconic streets. “Freedom! Freedom”, “Charlie! Charlie!” chanted the vast crowd.

Pain ... Charlie Hebdo newspaper staff, with editorialist Patrick Pelloux, right, cartoonist Renald Luzier, known as Luz, left. Picture: Michel Euler/AP

Defiant ... hundreds of thousands of people joined by world leaders have flooded Paris in a historic show of solidarity against terrorism. Picture: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

Solidarity ... French writers, muslim leaders and politicians hold a banner reading ‘Nous sommes Charlie’ (We are Charlie) in Paris before the start of a Unity rally. Picture: AFP/Thomas Samson

Under blue skies, emotions were running high in the shell-shocked City of Light, with many of those gathering from all walks of life already in tears as they came together under the banner of freedom of speech and liberty.

Lassina Traore, a 34-year-old French-born Muslim from the Ivory Coast, gently placed 17 candles at the foot of the monument at the Place de la Republique, heaped with tributes to the dead.

The march is “a real sign of how strong France is. It shows that France is strong when she is united against these people,” said the consultant.

“I want to show that we’re not scared of the extremists. I want to defend freedom of expression,” said 70-year-old Jacqueline Saad-Rouana.

Mass gathering ... Protestors at Republique Square, Paris. Picture: Peter Dejong/AP

Raucous, friendly and positive vibe here in Paris pic.twitter.com/rNrcl3OzyU

— Oliver Janney (@CNNewsCrew) January 11, 2015

A sea of white: Hundreds of thousands ready for #UnityMarch in France http://t.co/MK7mmWnXIf pic.twitter.com/9Wd8pPgBdK

— Mohammad Ali Zafar (@MohammadAliZ) January 11, 2015

Security was beefed up, with police snipers stationed on rooftops and plainclothes officers among the crowd in a city still reeling from the Islamist attacks which left 12 staff and policemen dead at the Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine and claimed four lives at a Jewish supermarket. A policewoman was also killed.

“Today, Paris is the capital of the world,” French President Francois Hollande said. “The entire country will rise up.”

Rallies were also planned in London, Madrid and New York - all attacked by al-Qaeda-linked extremists - as well as Cairo, Sydney, Stockholm, Tokyo and elsewhere.

“We are all Charlie, we are all police, we are all Jews of France,” Prime Minister Manuel Valls declared.

Unity ... people gather to take part in a Unity rally “Marche Republicaine” in Paris. Picture: AFP/Loic Venance

World leaders join rally

Along with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas, the king and queen of Jordan were present alongside a host of top European leaders, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel and British Prime Minister David Cameron.

I've just arrived at the Élysée to meet President Hollande. We'll March together for our values and those murdered at #CharlieHebdo.

— David Cameron (@David_Cameron) January 11, 2015

We are Charlie ... Crowds walk down a tree-lined boulevard in Paris. Picture: Martin Bureau/AFP

US Attorney General Holder took part in an emergency meeting of interior ministers to discuss the threats from Islamic extremism.

The ministers urged a strengthening of the EU external borders to limit the movement of extremists returning to Europe from the Middle East and said there was an “urgent need” to share European air passenger information.

Unity ... President Hollande welcomes German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Picture: AFP

Speaking on a visit to India, US Secretary of State John Kerry said: “We stand together this morning with the people of France. We stand together not just in anger and outrage but in solidarity and commitment in confronting extremists.”

President Hollande, who will lead the tributes to the victims, has warned his grieving country not to drop its guard in the face of possible new attacks.

Hollande ahead of the march met representatives from the Jewish community who said authorities had agreed to even deploy soldiers to protect Jewish schools and synagogues “if necessary.”

Welcome ... French President Francois Hollande welcomes Jordanian King Abdullah II and Queen Rania at the Elysee Palace. Picture: Dominique Faget/AFP

Rallies across France and the world

Towns and cities all over the world came out in support of free speech and to mark their sorrow at this week’s attacks in the capital.

From Berlin to London and Jerusalem to Beirut, crowds waved French flags and sang the anthem La Marseillaise following the Islamist attacks that killed 17 people.

Christians, Muslims and Jews alike took part in the rallies, held as around 2.5 million people took to the streets in unity marches in France.

In Israel, where four French Jews killed in a Paris supermarket attack will be buried, more than 500 people gathered in Jerusalem in front of a screen reading in French “Jerusalem is Charlie”.

Elsewhere ... People take part in a rally in the southern French city of Perpignan. Picture: Raymond Roig/AFP

Nearly 10,000 people took to the streets of the small French town of Dammartin-en-Goele where the manhunt for the two brothers who massacred 12 people at Charlie Hebdo came to a bloody end.

In the tiny town of Saint-Etienne in southeast France, some 60,000 people - more than a third of the entire population - joined a march from the railway station to the town hall.

There were similar scenes everywhere from Perpignan in the Pyrenees of southern France to Blois in the Loire valley.

Dammartin-en-Goele, around 40 kilometres from Paris, is where Cherif and Said Kouachi were killed by elite police forces after holing up in a small printing firm on Friday.

The demonstrators there on Sunday out-numbered the population of the town, which is only around 8000.

Originally published as Charlie Hebdo attacks: World leaders join more than a million demonstrators at rallies in Paris and across France