From Paris to Jerusalem, families and world leaders gathered to mourn those killed in last week’s French terror attacks.
But before the victims could be laid to rest, an al Qaeda branch was already threatening that the worst may be yet to come.
At a national ceremony in Paris, French President Francois Hollande eulogized three slain police officers — Ahmed Merabet, Franck Brinsolaro and Clarissa Jean-Philippe.
He awarded each with the Legion d’Honneur (National Order of Merit), placing a medal on each coffin.
Merabet was a Muslim policeman killed while trying to pursue the gunmen from the Charlie Hebdo attack, which left 12 people dead.
“He was killed by false Muslims,” his brother, Malek, told reporters. “One must not confuse extremists with Muslims. Mad people have neither color nor religion.”
Brinsolaro was a protection officer for Charlie Hebdo’s editor, Stephane Charbonnier, who was also killed.
“He had become one of those policemen especially trained to ensure the safety, the security of people who are particularly vulnerable,” Hollande said.
And Jean-Philippe was responding to a traffic accident when she was killed by a gunman suspected in last week’s terror attacks.
“She was cowardly shot in the back,” the President said. “How can one justify that one can kill so cowardly a young woman of 26 years of age, with all the future before her devoted to others?”
Grief in Jerusalem, too
In Jerusalem, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu honored four hostages killed Friday in a siege at a kosher market in Paris.
The bodies of all four — Philippe Braham, Yohan Cohen, Yoav Hattab and François-Michel Saada — were flown to Israel to be buried at the Givat Shaul cemetery in Jerusalem.
All four men were French Jews.
During a service for those victims, Israeli President Reuven Rivlin called on European leaders to try to quash anti-Semitism.
“The leaders of Europe, they have to take an active part, and with a strong hand they have to ensure the security of the Jewish people in Europe,” Rivlin said. “It’s unacceptable that in 2015 that people of Israel are unable to wear skullcaps … on the streets of Europe and that cemeteries and synagogues have to be protected.”
Al Qaeda issues new threat
While still mourning the deaths of 17 people from last week’s terror attacks, France must now deal with a new threat from an al Qaeda affiliate.
Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, the terror group’s North Africa branch, issued a warning published on jihadist websites.
“France pays the cost of its violence on Muslim countries and the violation of their sanctity,” AQIM said in its statement.
“As long as its soldiers occupy countries such as Mali and Central Africa and bombard our people in Syria and Iraq, and as long as its lame media continues to undermine our Prophet (Mohammed), France will expose itself to the worst and more.”
Big day for Charlie Hebdo
The warning from AQIM came just before Charlie Hebdo, known for its controversial depictions of Mohammed, went to the presses Tuesday for the first time since the attack.
Three million copies will be printed, up from the usual 60,000. The issue will hit newsstands Wednesday.
This time, the cover features a drawing of a frowning Mohammed with a teardrop coming from his eye.
“All is Forgiven,” the cover headline says in French.
In the prophet’s hands: a sign that says “Je suis Charlie” — or “I am Charlie,” the phrase adopted and displayed by those who protested against the attacks, as well as by people on social media around the world.
The man who produced that cartoon, Renald Luzier, told reporters Tuesday he cried after he finished it and wrote the accompanying headline.
“I’m sorry that I’ve drawn him again, but the Mohammed that we’ve drawn” is, above all, a Mohammed who is crying, said Luzier, who goes by the pen name Luz.
The magazine’s editor-in-chief, Gerard Briard, said that “there will be no interruption” after this week’s edition, saying another will be on newsstands two weeks from now.
“There is a future,” Briard said, “but we don’t know yet what it will resemble.”
Concerns spread to U.S.
While France is grappling with a new wave of terrorism, concerns about future attacks have spilled well across its borders.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is boosting security at more government buildings across the country. But the exact locations are “law-enforcement sensitive,” DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson said in a statement.
Johnson also noted that the Transportation Security Administration has ramped up the number of random searches of passengers and carry-on luggage at U.S. airports.
And the White House tried to do damage control Monday after widespread criticism that neither President Barack Obama nor any other high-ranking U.S. official joined a massive anti-terrorism march in Paris that drew 40 other world leaders.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest acknowledged “we should have sent someone with a higher profile,” not even trying to justify the fact that largely unknown U.S. Ambassador Jane Hartley was the top American official at Sunday’s rally.
While the United States has not faced a physical terror attack since the incidents in France, ISIS sympathizers did hack the Twitter account for U.S. Central Command.
A series of unusual tweets were published Monday with apparent warnings from ISIS, as well as links, images and Pentagon documents that reveal contact information for members of the military.
The first tweet read: “AMERICAN SOLDIERS, WE ARE COMING, WATCH YOUR BACK. ISIS.”
“CyberCaliphate” and “i love you isis” were sprawled out in white letters against a black screen at the top of the Twitter page.
The account was suspended, but defense officials say no classified information was obtained and no military networks were compromised.
