Kenny to sign book of condolence for Paris shooting victims

Taoiseach Enda Kenny will sign a book of condolence for the victims of the Paris shootings this morning at the French Embassy in Dublin.

The book in the Embassy at 36, Ailesbury Road is being opened in memory of the 12 people who lost their lives in Wednesday's attack on the offices of satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo.

Meanwhile, declaring that “terror is no match for freedom,” US president Barack Obama paid his respects at the French Embassy in Washington following the Paris terrorist attack that left a dozen people dead.

French Ambassador to the United States Gerard Araud, left, looks on as President Barack Obama signs a condolences book during a visit to the French Embassy in Washington. Picture: AP

A solemn-looking Mr Obama filled nearly a page in a condolence book set up on a table draped with a blue tablecloth. Behind him hung a painting of George Washington at Yorktown with French general Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, better known as Count Rochambeau.

“As allies across the centuries, we stand united with our French brothers to ensure that justice is done and our way of life is defended,” Mr Obama wrote.

“We go forward together knowing that terror is no match for freedom and ideals we stand for – ideals that light the world.”

He signed off with “Vive la France!”

Afterwards the president stood briefly near the table with his head bowed in a moment of silence before shaking hands with embassy personnel.

Mr Obama has denounced the “cowardly, evil attacks” that took place on Wednesday at the offices of the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo.

French Police have spent a second night hunting for the suspected gunmen Said, 34, and Cherif Kouachi, 32, in houses and a forest to the north east of Paris.

The manhunt homed in on a region north of Paris as the nation mourned the dozen people murdered, while more than 88,000 security forces were deployed on the streets of France.

The authorities fear a second strike by the Kouachi brothers and distributed their portraits with the warning “armed and dangerous”.

They also extended France’s maximum terror alert from Paris to the northern Picardie region, focusing on several towns that might be possible safe havens for the two, who US counter-terrorism officials said were both on the US no-fly list.