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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