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John Kerry Dismisses Criticism Over U.S. Presence at Paris Rally

Secretary of State John Kerry said on Monday he would travel to Paris this week.
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/ Source: Reuters

GANDHINAGAR, India — Secretary of State John Kerry said on Monday he would travel to Paris this week to express solidarity with the victims of the Islamist militant attack on a satirical weekly newspaper.

On a visit to India, Kerry rebutted as "quibbling" criticism that the United States had not been represented by a more senior official at a million-strong remembrance march in the French capital on Sunday that was joined by world leaders.

Kerry said he would travel on Thursday and be in Paris for part of the day on Friday. Seventeen people were killed in three days of violence last week that started with a shooting attack on the Charlie Hebdo weekly.

The Paris march was attended by the top U.S. diplomat for Europe, Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland, and the U.S. ambassador to France. "We have offered, from the first moment, our intel, our law enforcement and all of our efforts, and I really think that, you know, this is sort of quibbling a little bit," Kerry said, in response to a reporter's question.

The U.S. relationship with France was "not about one day, or one particular moment."

IN-DEPTH

— Reuters