hello there from doha. welcome to continuing coverage of the solidarity mars across france. organizers say up to 1.5 million people are on the streets of paris to show they are united despite three days of horror. dozens of world leaders are showing support from europe to africa the middle east and the members members. it's a simple message. the pen is mightier than the sword. the cartoonists and policemen killed at charlie hebdo magazine. i am tim friend. amongst the hundreds of

thousands of demonstrators, the message from them is: freedom of expression and solidarity! ♪ more than a million people are marching on the streets of paris led by president hol ande and dozens of world leaders. they are there to show france is united. they say they will not be intimidated despite three days of violence. many are waving je suis charlie signs in honor of those attacked on wednesday. twelve people were killed during that attack. israel's leader is there. the other target of course a jewish supermarket in paris at which four people were killed. overlooking the crowd gathered at the place de la bastille in central paris is rory challands. rory there has been a huge

buildup of people moving from the place de la bastille where you are to the place de la nation on this march of unity. >> reporter: yeah, it seems for many hours as if they weren't actually moving at all. they were. it was just they were being replaced by thousands and thousands more as some managed to shuffle out of one end of the square. others were coming in from different side roads for about three or four hours, this square down here was absolutely jam-packed full. there are still several thousands down there. others have moved on to place de la nation. you can probably see at the statue down there, some of the more enthusiastic that remain here they are wavingly flags from many different nations. >> that's the message, really that this dmojstration has been intending to showemonstration has been intending to show one of solidarity across all countries.

arm in arm, shufrling, maybe a little uneasily but an historic moment nonetheless. presidents, prime idents, prime ministers. >> during the attacks, you know, to honor those who died and show we all support freedom of speech. >> i must say i was not particularly, let's say, in favor of the kind of cartoons that were portrayed by these journalists, but they did have the right to do that. i think we all have to stand up.

>> that as well as solidarity has been the uneasy generated by a week of unexpected blood shed. politicians will have to strike a right balance between upholding the freedoms western democracies hold dear and taking decided steps. >> we need to act. >> that's what is called for. we are taking but we know it's difficult and that what happened is reviving fears. let's not be afraid. let's not be afraid to be journalists, policemen. let's not be afraid to be jewish. let's not be afraid to be a citizen. >> european interior ministers and the u.s. attorney general also met in paris for an emergency meeting on sunday. their aim: to improve security cooperation. >> we need to change the agreement code to allow better information flow in the system across external borders and benefit from free movement within the eu. also discussed were alterations to information sharing within europe's border patrol zone and

a meeting has been announced for february 18th in washington, d.c. [chanting.] >> it's a key concern of the wern est governments -- wetstern governments. this is an international problem and one that they have to tackle together. from terrible acts of violence has come a unity through grief and shock. not just from the french but, also from the rest of the world. this is an unprecedented gathering of regular people heads of state, and religious leaders, all with one hope in mind a united end to violence. >> rory, you mentioned there, world leaders were taking part in this march and that recognize some of the problems are international problems. are they coming up with international solutions? >> reporter: well this is a thorny issue, and it's one

that's not going to be solved in an afternoon meetings by the heads of state who are marching with the crowds or by the interior ministers who are meeting the french interior ministry earlier on today. it's going to take many many years, and it has been something that they have been trying to do for many many years as well. so, it would be unrealistic to expect them to come out with something particularly revealing or particularly decisive today. but we have had a number of suggestions. they were talking about a typing up the sort of monitoring of the internet. they were talking about adjusting the code of the shangan free travel zone within europe. they are talking about meeting again, of course in washington, d.c. in a few days' time. so these are problems that also have a fundamental paradox in them like how do you actually

make people safe without eventually crushing the freedom that they want to maintain? and it's a very very delicate balance. it's really one that has no main solution. the security analysts that i have been speaking to over the last few days have said throughout this episode and with the criticisms that have been levels against the french security services for maybe missing these attackers, as they should have picked them up before they were allowed to reap such carnage, the security services should be able to explain to the public that 100 percent security cannot be guaranteed unless you are actually going to stop people doing anything at all and that the task that faces them is gargantuan and you can't monitor everyone all the time. >> rory it was interesting, one of the commentators you had, an older lady was saying, you know that she didn't approve of

charlie hebdo's content but they had every right to the publish what they did, and that's why she was demonstrating there today. is this march, also very much about french values as well as unity? reporter: yes. absolutely. i mean "charlie hebdo" was a magazine that was constantly controversial. >> that's essentially what it was set up to do. >> that's what it specifically valued. it poked fun at many different institutions many different religions. it offended a lot of people. so clearly, not everyone is going to be standing up and saying that charlie hebdo chvp cartoonits and journalists, there were people they agreed with but it's the principle. >> that's exactly what most people down here in the crowds and the people who have been coming across france want to stand up for the principle that you may not like what i have to say, but you should at least

give me the chance to say it. >> rory thanks very much indeed for that at the moment. rory challands overlooking the place de la republic. this march has two routes which are being used both of them starting at place de la de la republic. one of them is northwest, and it makes its way toward place de la bastille where they will meet the end march, taking a bit of a more direct group passing through volume tear boulevard. tim friend is down amongst the crowd at the -- in the place de la republique. you have been talking to a lot of people. what are they saying about why they are there? >> reporter: they simply want to show that they are united in this belief freedom of expression is paramount, and that they have to defend their

right. some of them have done it from the precarious position of the monuments in the middle of the square. i think you are seeing this shot of this picture, temporarily blocked out perhaps by an enthusiastic poster wafer, from my colleague rory chal and's above, up above from ground level. let's again talk to some of the demonstrators at ground level if we come back down again. they likewise have their posters up. we will have to take them down just for a second so we can see. why is it important to be here? why are you here? >> liberte for france is an old story, and like drawing or writing, and this is not surprising to see everybody outside today by family with kids. everybody here, it's normal just people. >> reporter: families across the

generations, one thing i have noticed, across religion and not just france as well. >> yeah. >> reporter: from other countries? >> in 1798, an old story. for us fits separation by the religion and the government. >> reporter: protecting the values of the revolution? >> exactly. it's nice to be free. >> reporter: what's your message to the world leaders? >> thank you very much and the one who is muslim i want to give the message to all of the people islam never suffered terrorism. islam never suffered terrorists. islam never suffered, killed innocent people. islam means peace. >> reporter: i am sure you feel absolutely safe here today amongst people who want to show unity. >> absolutely. >> reporter: as a result of these incidents, these atrocities, do you fear some kind of backlash islamophobia?

>> i don't think so. the franths government already announced it's not islam to fear. we have only terrorism because terrorist is not islam. islam is different thing. islam is peace. we want to keep the message all over the world, people islam is peace and again terrorism, if you see the people many muslims, they are shouting liberte to france. we are with the france. all of the people we are the france. the muslims, people are here already. >> reporter: they are indeed. we have spoken to them, like yourself who put their point very forcefully. thank you very much. >> you are welcome. >> reporter: you as well would share that point of view? >> i am ready sad about what happened to charlie hebdo. i am here because that's his day. i want to relay to express it.

the expression of freedom, yeah. >> reporter: yeah. >> speech is important >> speech is important interview. >> that young man there saying it's important to realize islam is not terrorism. a lot of talk about the security in froonings. i guess the security for today's march has been huge.

>> reporter: it's been phenomenal, of course but very low key. i am sure where its mattered where those world leaders were, it's been coordinated to the second and to the nht degree, but it has been incredibly low-key, mainly because they have probably anticipated, rightly, it's been peaceful. i am sure it's going to stay like that as night falls. people may be thinking about returning home switching on the television looking at some of those images that have been relayed around the world during the day and can say: i was part of that. and perhaps they fulfilled that claim. "i am charlie hebdo," you know i have become part of the campaign to try to prevent something like that occurring

again. of course today hasn't been about details. it hasn't been about how you actually achieve that. but i think they will feel people here, that they have made a pretty good start. >> tim, thank you very much indeed for that. tim friend down among the crowds at place de la republicarepubliqu. >> there are 40 world leaders marching alongside francois hollande. >> the sense of defiance against the attacks in paris is obvious. and at the unity rally, some interesting faces, all in all, around 40 countries represented. not just from europe but as far away as the united states mali and niger. let's take a look at some of the big names, al jazeera, foreign minister a key face here algeria was part of france until 1962. so a huge number of french muss let me see have lengths to the

north. now the kouch kouachi brothers they were born to al engineer parents. the fourth suspect has al engineer family. the minister's presence here aim to show solidarity. then the u.k. linked to paris by trade, a european ally david cameron up for reelection soon there to give his support. the u.k. has been struggling with so-called home-grown fighters who have trained abroad. then there is israel represented in force with three key faces, foreign minister the economy minister and the prime minister benjamin netanyahu. palestinian president makmud abbas also there. france one had the largest jewish population in the eu. ♪net has publiinvited jews living in europe to move to israel. his presence, to support the jewish community, shocked by that attack on a kosher

supermarket in paris. >> that's where the hostage taker was shot dead. russian's forever and ever minister there, too. russia is currently out in the cold so to speak due to the situation? crain. for example, it wasn't invited to the recently g-7 meeting. there is a feeling differences need to be set aside. russia has its own internal problems with attacks in czech knee chechnya in claims of trying to silence the media. prime minister was invited here there are some reports that europe's most wanted the only surviving suspect could have traveled to istanbul and to syria. turk turkey has been accused of clamping down on free speech in recent years with its own

attempts to ban twitter. the message: the people of france are supported internationally. the u.s. representative has used the visit to announce what's being called a high-level global anti-terrorism meeting washington next month. these are countries determined to support each other at every level, to combat and mutual concern, a mutual fear. >> phil lavelle, as he mentioned, one of the leaders who traveled to paris was a u.s. attorney general, eric holder. he met with the french interior minister earlier. the two leaders reaffirmed their country's common policies for security in the wake of the paris attacks. >> we bring together all of our allies to discuss ways in which we can counteract this violent extremism that exists around the world. only if we work together through sharing of information, by call pooling our resources will we be able to ultimately defeat those who are in a struggle with us

about our fundamental values. on this day, on this day, we are all french citizens. i am a citizen of france. and we stand in solidarity with the french people. thank you. >> pierre is in the studio with me an assistant professor in doha been following the march the entire day. eric holder speaking there. we heard francois hollande speaking earlier about this idea of we are engaged in a war on terror as it has been called. is there a fear that if we don't have a proper debate or proper understanding of this that a war on terror becomes seen as a war on islam. there were several people saying that islam is not to be seen as synonymous with terrorism? >> it'slam is not terrorism.

it's peace. but the way it is being portrayed. you actually keep hearing the word of islam fundamentalism and you need to balance this with success stories, with, you know traditional, you know, different moments of, you know religious and not religious fundamentalism. there is extensive opportunities to do so. maybe that was one of the crucial comings of the french society or media about talking about the negative aspect of it, just always they should stress about, you know, the kong conflict against boka haram is not a specific religbut a very midstream is fundism. >> is this one of the reasons alternates of young male muslims do feel as though they are not part of the society in which they are living in and perhaps

they should be engaged in a different struggle an outside struggle? >> yes. the feeling that one of the former guests made a great point about integration. it's not a question of integration. they are part of french society. they are french. moderation is used to having colleagues in high school or mid school okay? but my parents, i am not used to this. they see the muslim community as something from outside. they have integrated the french society is now fully integrating and being comprised by different pillars. part of it is the muslim faith. and in an aging population where a large part of the population is 50 and above, this is -- those are the make supporters of the pen and extremist movement on the right-wing of politics. it can be essential to be able to show how the misslum

community is portraying a large positive development in society and we do see some writing figures such as the religious authority and the french coun council on islamic faith which is now finally organizing itself finally, adding a voice of itself and not just leaving a vacuum for the fundamentalism outside of france. >> do you think this is something we have seen lots of world leaders there today, the front of the march, arm and arm and this is a recognition that this is an issue in pretty much all of their countries. isn't it? >> well, it's always a problem, and if you are not moving away from the question of france we live in a globalized world and national identity and how that is globalization. you know talking about russia the u.s. france anything in the country are evolving faster than they used to evolve and have to include some things we are not used to. there is a way of trying to see how the cliche value ideas of

france whether you are talking about how to evolve to a more modern society and the ways. i am trying to give you a mate afor. it might not have been the did he have a metaphor. the traditional values. >> it's a problem. we talk about french values. does that mean everybody shares those french values? >> i think that the claim being made through the demonstration is that whether you are from a different religious background whether you are from a different origin whether you are actually with a different flag within france, you find yourself and you do support those values of freedom of speech and you do value those freedoms of longing for more equality and more freedom and more fraternity. i hope that we are seeing here the fact that we are talking about 2.5 million people in the street. this is unheard of. i mean to my understanding, this is just like taking the main values of the cities and i am convinced right now in small villages you

have different events about solidarity and freedom. and this might be the cradle for the future of the french identity based upon those values based upon the fact that thanks to this rally someone would meet someone, you know. >> do you think they will hang on to the sense of unity? >> i hope so. >> in the days and months? >> i hope the younger generation are much more open to discovering someone from a different community. i am considering this. it needs to be something that is a small make-up, you know, trying to do key projects together integrating society through, you know, joined project inside municipalities from inside the schools, making sure that you don't see one just curious about the other, not just afraid about the other. >> good to speak with you. thank you very much indeed for that. remi piet there. there have been solidarity rallies held in other cities around the world.

take a look at this. this was berlin in germany. the crowd held pens and pings ills in the air in silence people gathered there two or believed to have been young girls blew themselves up at a market selling mobile handsets in nigeria. the number of casualties still unclear. >> follows saturday's suicide bombing by a 10-year-olds girl in the town of maiduguri which killed 16 people. on the line for us from the nigerian capitol, another situation where it looks like

children were used in suicide bombings. what are you hearing about the latest incidents? >> reporter: well basically, like you said two female suicide bombers attacked a market market. the first detonated when she realized she wouldn't get past the security check into the market. a few minutes later, another bomb went off. like you said this is not the first first time teen suicide bombers have been used and children to target civilians in the northeast. yesterday we were seening 1. in the so many incidents where girls as young as 10, 11, 12, had been used by boka haram to attack civilians and governments. basically, this is becoming more of a trend now because boka haram sort of realized with attention being focused on young males, probably the girls can

get past security checks without much of a problem. now things are happening in so many places and we have seen how these girls have been across the northeast of nigeria and parts of the northwest. >> where are these girls coming from? are they related to boka haram members? >> well, some of them are related to active members of boka haram. some are related to the second and some also could be girls and young boys from villages in the northeast, especially in the states of borneo where boka haram is known to be active. we heard about instances where boka haram will single out young men and girls, take them away to the bushes train them there probably to carry on with what they are doing. so many people believe that these are some girls -- some of these girls are part of those girls who have been kidnapped by

boka haram and taken away some few years or few months ago. >> akmed in abuja there. thank you very much for updating us on another disturbing story of child suicide bombers in nigeria there. now, sri lanka's government says it is investigating a block vote could you tell after last week's presidential elections. a spokesperson for the president says they tried to deploy the army and police after initial results showed he was heading for defeat. the army chief and police inspector general reportedly refused to back the former president. meanwhile, thousands gathered to hear a speech to unite all ethnic and religious groups. it was suggested improving relations with est withestern countries. delegates from around the world have gathered in the indian

prime minister's home state for an investment conference. attendees include u.s. secretary of state john kerry and u.n. general ban ki-moon to showcase investment opportunities under india. he said his government was committed today trans piece. until pakistan a bus carrying several people collided with a fuel tank at least 59 people were killed. most of the bodies were borned beyond recognition. they said the tanker was traveling in the wrong direction. at least nine people have been killed in a double suicide bomb attack in northern lebanon. fighters from syria's al-nusra front were linked to al-qaeda say they are responsible for the attacks. the blasts happened at a cafe in the predominantly allowhit e neighborhood. bashar al assad is an allowhite.

support for him has led to violence in the city before. you can keep up-to-date with all of our day's news on our website. the address: aljazeera.com. >> nairobi is my city, well perhaps not ex