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Russian, French Foreign Ministers speak after CharlieHebdo attack
January 8, 2015, 2:19 pm

Parisians light up candles and mourn for the people killed in the attack in Paris, France, on Jan. 7, 2015 [Xinhua]

Parisians light up candles and mourn for the people killed in the attack on Charlie Hebdo offices in Paris, France, on Jan. 7, 2015 [Xinhua]

Even as the security alert in France was raised to the highest level, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told his French counterpart Laurent Fabius on Thursday that Moscow is ready to step up cooperation with France on thwarting terror attacks.

Lavrov held a phone conversation with Fabius in the wake of a terror attack on a satirical magazine in the French capital city of Paris.

12 people were killed, including eight journalists on Wednesday at the offices of Charlie Hebdo.

“Lavrov expressed his condolences over the recent terrorist attack in central Paris that led to several deaths. The ministers agreed that the incident once again highlighted the necessity to further cooperate in the fight against the terrorist threat,” said a statement on the Russian Foreign Ministry website.

Tensions in Paris were high on Thursday as France began a day of national mourning.

ISIL, or Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, has repeatedly singled out France for attacks. France is involved in US-led strikes against ISIL fighters in Iraq.

Earlier last month, 11 people were injured after a driver shouting “Allahu Akbar” (“God is greatest”) drove into pedestrians in eastern France, just a day after a man uttering the same words was killed in an attack on police officers.

The attack on Charlie Hebdo offices in Paris on Wednesday drew widespread condemnation from Muslim groups in France.

“This extremely grave barbaric action is also an attack against democracy and the freedom of the press,” the French Muslim Council said in a statement on Wednesday.

In their conversation on Thursday, Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov and his French counterpart Fabius reaffirmed the need for cooperation against terrorism.

Fabius also said in November that the US-led coalition should not battle ISIL to the exclusion of supporting rebels fighting President Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria.

“Assad and Daesh are two sides of the same barbaric coin,” Fabius said, using the Arabic acronym for ISIL.

Meanwhile, on 29 December, the Russian Supreme Court recognised the Islamic State (ISIL) and Jabhat al-Nusra as terrorist organisations.

“The ruling outlaws any activity by these groups in Russia and joining or supporting these organisations now constitutes a criminal act in Russia,” says an official statement.

 

TBP