UAE condemns Paris terrorist attack

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs emphasised the UAE’s solidarity with the friendly government and people of France.

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ABU DHABI // The UAE has strongly condemned the deadly attack on a Paris satirical newspaper.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs emphasised the UAE’s solidarity with the friendly government and people of France at this critical time and expressed its condemnation of terrorism in all its forms and manifestations as a phenomenon that targets international security and stability.

The statement said that such appalling criminal acts require cooperation and solidarity at all levels to eradicate this menace of terrorism.

The ministry expressed its sincere condolences and sympathies with the French government and families of victims and wished a swift recovery to the injured.

Al Azhar University and the Arab League also both condemned the attack.

“Arab League chief Nabil Al Arabi strongly condemns the terrorist attack on Charlie Hebdo newspaper in Paris,” the League said on Wednesday.

Al Azhar condemned the “criminal attack,” saying that “Islam denounces any violence”, in remarks carried by Egypt’s state news agency MENA.

In a separate statement, Al Azhar senior official Abbas Shoman said the institution “does not approve of using violence even if it was in response to an offence committed against sacred Muslim sentiments”.

United States president Barack Obama said the attack on a Paris newspaper was an attack on journalists and the free press. He called it cowardly and evil.

Charlie Hebdo has sparked anger in the past among Muslims for publishing cartoons of the prophet Mohamed.

* Agence France-Presse, Associated Press