German chancellor Angela Merkel joined thousands of people at a Muslim solidarity rally for victims of the Paris attacks in Berlin on Tuesday evening, in what was widely seen as a public rebuke to the anti-Islam protests that have gripped Germany in recent weeks.
Mrs Merkel and the German president Joachim Gauck joined a 3,000-strong crowd as the Koran was read under the Brandenburg Gate at a rally shown live on German television.
“The terrorists wanted to divide us. They have achieved the opposite. They have brought us together,” President Gauck told the gathered crowds.
“I say to these fanatics and terrorists: we are not afraid of you. Your hate is our motivation. We stand by our country and its values.” » | Justin Huggler, Berlin | Tuesday, January 13, 2015
