Obama won’t attend France peace rally

President Barack Obama. AP

PARIS, France – President Barack Obama will not join other world leaders at Sunday’s Paris march in tribute to the victims of this week’s Islamist attacks in France, a US official told AFP.

Ever since the bloody shooting that killed 12 people at satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo on Wednesday — followed by separate attacks that left five more people dead — Obama has made repeated declarations in support of America’s “oldest ally.”

But he will not join other leaders including British Prime Minister David Cameron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, all set to attend the march.

The rally will put Netanyahu in the same event with Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas.

More than a million people are expected to go.

“I want the people of France to know that the United States stands with you today, stands with you tomorrow,” Obama said Friday, following three days of bloodshed.

On Thursday, Obama wrote the Gallic slogan “Vive la France!” in a condolence book during a visit to the embassy in Washington.

Here is a list of world political figures who have confirmed their attendance:

Albania — Prime Minister Edi Rama

Algeria — Foreign Minister Ramtane Lamamra

Austria — Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz

Belgium — Prime Minister Charles Michel

Benin — President Thomas Boni Yayi

Britain — Prime Minister David Cameron

Bulgaria — Prime Minister Boyko Borisov

Canada — Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney

Croatia — Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic

Czech — Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka

Denmark — Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt

Gabon — President Ali Bongo Ondimba

Georgia — Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili

Germany — Chancellor Angela Merkel

Greece — Prime Minister Antonis Samaras

Hungary — Prime Minister Viktor Orban

Israel — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman

Italy — Prime Minister Matteo Renzi

Jordan — King Abdullah II and Queen Rania

Latvia — Prime Minister Laimdota Straujuma

Mali — President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita

Niger — President Mahamadou Issoufou

Palestinian territories — president Mahmud Abbas

Portugal — Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho

Romania — President Klaus Iohannis

Russia — Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov

Spain — Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy

Switzerland — President Simonetta Sommaruga

The Netherlands — Prime Minister Mark Rutte

Tunisia — Prime Minister Mehdi Jomaa

Turkey — Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu

United Arab Emirates — Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahayan

Ukraine — President Petro Poroshenko

United States — Attorney General Eric Holder

European Commission — President Jean-Claude Juncker

European Parliament — President Martin Schulz

European Union — President Donald Tusk

NATO — Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg

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