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French election campaign on hold after school shooting
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| Contributor | Craverguy |
| Last Edited | Craverguy Mar 19, 2012 04:23pm |
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| Category | News |
| Author | Agence France-Presse |
| News Date | Monday, March 19, 2012 10:10:00 PM UTC0:0 |
| Description | PARIS — France effectively put its election campaign on hold Monday after a gunman killed three children and a teacher at a Jewish school and candidates set politics aside to condemn the shocking attack.
President Nicolas Sarkozy and the Socialist frontrunner in the presidential race, Francois Hollande, cancelled campaign events and rushed to the southern city of Toulouse, amid fears the attack could be the work of a serial killer.
Speaking at the scene of the killings, Sarkozy announced a minute of silence in all French schools on Tuesday and said the state would throw its full weight behind the investigation.
“We should not back down in the face of terror,” Sarkozy said.
“You cannot murder children like this on the territory of the Republic without being held to account,” he said. “Today is a day of national tragedy.”
Speaking later after a meeting of top security officials in Paris, Sarkozy said he was putting the southwestern Midi-Pyrenees region on its highest terror alert level and suspending his campaign until at least Wednesday.
“This odious act cannot remain unpunished. All means, absolutely all means available, will be committed to neutralise this criminal,” he said.
Hollande, also at the scene, called for the country to unite after the shooting, urging: “We must do everything to ensure that acts of anti-Semitism or racism are met with a firm and common response from the whole Republic.” |
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