View of the Invalides monument in central Paris on November 20, 2015. -AFP Photo
French President François Hollande is leading a solemn ceremony Friday (Nov 27) at the Invalides monument in central Paris to honour the 130 victims of the November 13 terror attacks.
Coordinated attacks that were claimed by the Islamic State (IS) group killed 130 people and wounded at least 352 others at several restaurants and cafés in Paris, the Bataclan concert hall, and outside the National Stadium on the evening of November 13.
The ceremony, which is being held exactly two weeks after the tragedy, will be attended by more than 2,000 people, including victims’ families and those wounded in the attacks.
They will be seated alongside ministers and officials representing “all of the branches of the state”, according to a statement by the Elysée Presidential Palace.
Members of Parliament, military officials, former French presidents and prime ministers, as well as the leaders of different political parties have been invited to the solemn ceremony that will be conducted under very tight security.
Hollande has asked citizens to display the national flag outside their homes to coincide with the commemoration, a patriotic display that remains rare in France.
Government spokesman Stéphane Le Foll said the attacks had “touched every one of our fellow citizens very deeply” and Hollande wanted people to be able to join in with the memorial service.
Dalil Boubakeur, the rector of the Grand Mosque of Paris, called on all of the imams of France to take part in a “solemn prayer” on Friday in memory of the victims.
130 names
Hollande, who on Thursday met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow to discuss a common strategy for fighting the IS group in Syria, will preside over the ceremony starting at 10:30 a.m. Paris time.
After Hollande receives a military salute as head of the armed forces, and the singing of the national anthem, La Marseillaise, the names of the 130 people killed in the attacks will be read out.
The ceremony will conclude with a 20-minute speech by the president.
Some relatives of the victims have nevertheless decided to boycott the event, saying the government did not do enough to protect citizens from terrorism following the attacks on Charlie Hebdo and a kosher supermarket in January.-AFP