News / France

APEC condemns terrorist attacks in Paris

Tuesday, 17 November 2015 8:09 AM [ Last Update: Tuesday, 17 November 2015 8:28 AM ]

This photo, taken on November 16, 2015, shows candles and messages left at a makeshift memorial next to the Bataclan concert hall in Paris, France. (Photo by AFP)

World leaders at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in the Philippines have condemned the recent deadly terrorist attacks in the French capital, Paris.

The 21-member regional summit, which includes the United States and China, said the coordinated attacks in Paris “demand a united voice from the global community,” according to the draft of a statement to be issued when the annual event ends Thursday.

“We stand in solidarity with the people of France and all victims of terrorism elsewhere,” the draft statement read.

APEC states account for about 57 percent of the world’s gross domestic product (GDP) and 47 percent of the world’s trade as of 2012.

The APEC summit, which will kick off in Manila on Wednesday, is being dominated by debates over the Paris attacks and a territorial dispute in the South China Sea.

Over 130 people were killed and 350 others injured when assailants struck at least six different venues in and around Paris on November 13. The victims came from at least 19 countries, according to French President Francois Hollande. In a statement the day after, the Takfiri Daesh terrorist group claimed responsibility for the attacks.

In an address to the French parliament on Monday, President Hollande said his administration will expand the French military’s airstrikes against Daesh in Syria. He said the Paris attacks originated from Syria, where Daesh is present, saying the shootings and explosions were then “organized in Belgium and perpetrated in France.”

A man lights a candle outside the French embassy building in the Mexican capital, Mexico City, in solidarity with the victims of the November 13 attacks in Paris, France, November 16, 2015. (Photo by AFP)

French officials on Monday identified the suspected mastermind of the Paris attacks as Belgian national Abdelhamid Abaaoud. They said Abaaoud was linked to foiled attacks on a train and at a church in August and is currently in Syria.

French authorities have so far identified five of the seven dead attackers as Samy Amimour, a 28-year-old Frenchman charged in a terrorism investigation in 2012; Ahmad al-Mohammad, a 25-year-old born in Idlib, Syria; Brahim Abdeslam, a 31-year-old Frenchman living in Belgium, who blew himself up outside a cafe on Boulevard Voltaire; Bilal Hadfi, aged 20, who lived in Belgium; and 29-year-old French-born Omar Ismail Mostefai.

Police have also issued an arrest warrant for Brussels-born Salah Abdeslam, 26, as a key suspect.

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