National tribute to the victims of terrorism

Fazal ur Rehman Afridi (President of IRESK) represented Collectif Contre le Terrorisme, France and International Alliance Against Terrorism (IAAT) at the ceremony to pay tribute to the victims of terrorism held on September 19, 2012 at Paris, France. The representatives of International Alliance Against Terrorism laid a floral wreath at the historical monument dedicated to the victims of terrorism. The fact, the President mentioned particularly, in his speech that children are the target of Terrorists, shows that the message of Collectif Contre le Terrorism (CCT) spear-headed by Afridi is gradually reaching the important governments in Europe which will pave the way for effective legislation on national and international level to protect children from the scourge of terrorism. Later, Afridi had an honor to briefly meet the president, introduced himself, shook hands and took a photo. (Communicated by IRESK)

REUTERS September 19, 2012 – Elizabeth Pineau, edited by Emmanuel Jary

President François Hollande embarked on Wednesday in the fight “against all forms of terrorism”, which will be the subject of a bill drawing in particular the lessons of the shootings in Toulouse and Montauban, last spring.

François Hollande , President of the Republic, chaired the commemoration organized by the French Association of Victims of Terrorism AfVT.org, in the presence of the highest civil, military, religious and diplomatic authorities.

The ceremony is organized every September 19, was this year marked by the memory of the assassinations perpetrated by Mohammed Merah, which left seven dead, including three children under ten years old.

“Terrorism, this hatred which attacks unarmed civilians, this violence which attacks men, women, children at random, is ignominy. This terrorism places itself outside of humanity ”, declared the Head of State in the gardens of Invalides, in Paris.

He pledged, in a speech, to give “new means” to victims and to help justice.

“The Republic, in my name, assures you of the fullest transparency,” he said. The legal arsenal “must, whenever necessary, be adapted and improved”.

François Hollande confirmed the announcement made this week by the Minister of the Interior, Manuel Valls, of a forthcoming bill against terrorism, “drawing in particular the conclusions of the tragedies of Toulouse and Montauban”.

“It will allow us to make our fight against all forms of terrorism, even the most elaborate, even more effective”, he stressed.

The ceremony, organized each year on the anniversary of the attack which destroyed a UTA DC-10 on September 19, 1989, brought together victims, families, representatives of associations and religious authorities of different faiths.

“HAPPINESS KILLED”

Before the president, relatives of victims spoke in often heartbreaking stories.

“Every day we think of Camille, of the attack, of the happiness killed,” said Isabelle Dewailly, mother of a 10-year-old girl killed with 16 other people in the attack in Marrakech on April 28, 2011.

Also present, Samuel Sandler, father of Jonathan Sandler and grandfather of Gabriel and Aryeh Sandler, killed by Mohammed Merah at the Jewish school Ozar Hatorah, in Toulouse on March 19, 2012.

“Six months ago to the day”, he said, “the unthinkable happened again in France: in Toulouse, children were murdered because they were Jews”.

“Never again, we repeated after the Second World War,” he recalled.

Latifa Ibn Ziaten, mother of Imad Ibn Ziaten, a young soldier killed in Toulouse on March 11, 2012 by Mohammed Merah, recounted her grief as a Muslim mother of five children raised in France “in the name of the secular Republic”.

“Losing a son, believe me, it’s not easy, he was a soldier and I was proud of him. He was an honest person and a good citizen, ”she told the audience.

Françoise Rudetzki, of the association FENVAC – SOS catastrophe and terrorism, said to see in the presence of the President of the Republic “a sign of a lasting commitment on (his) part”.

“Every victim is above all, and even simply, a citizen struck in what is most fundamental: his freedom”, she recalled. “National solidarity should not be an empty word”.

REUTERS September 19, 2012 – Elizabeth Pineau, edited by Emmanuel Jary