Queen Elizabeth expresses sympathy for victims of Paris attack

Britain’s Queen Elizabeth has extended her sympathies to the President of France following the terrorism attacks in Paris.
The 88-year-old monarch has written a message to François Hollande in which she expresses her “sincere condolences” after 12 people were killed during an attack on the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo yesterday morning (07.01.15).
In her message addressed to the French President, she wrote: “Prince Philip and I send our sincere condolences to the families of those who have been injured in Paris this morning.
“We send our thoughts and prayers to all of those who have been affected. Elizabeth R.”
Four of Charlie Hebdo’s well-known cartoonists, including its editor, were among those killed in the attacks, in addition to two police officers.
French police have launched a major search to find three men who fled from the scene in a car.
President Francois Hollande described the incident as a terrorist attack “of exceptional barbarity”.
He added: “We are threatened because we are a country of liberty.”
Meanwhile, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said: “It was a horrendous, unjustifiable and cold-blooded crime. It was also a direct assault on a cornerstone of democracy, on the media and on freedom of expression.”