Sunday in Paris: A manhunt begins for Abdeslam Salah

The day that was: Details emerge on the horror at the Bataclan, and G20 leaders get down to business

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Restaurant La belle époque. (Photograph by Michel Huneault)

A weekend in Paris ended with the world on the lookout for Abdeslam Salah, as French police released a photo of the 26-year-old Belgian-born man, warning he should be considered dangerous.

In a series of coordinated attacks, ravaging the French capital, seven of the suspected attackers are reportedly dead—one in a police shootout and six by suicide bombing, including Saleh’s brother Ibrahim. Police also tracked down what may have been one of the cars used in the attack, as a black Seat Leon was found in a Parisian suburb Sunday morning,  with several Kalashnikov rifles inside.

As the world mourned victims—some French, American, Chilean and Spanish—authorities also named Omar Ismail Mostefai as one of the suicide bombers in the attack at the Bataclan concert hall in Paris. The French born 29-year-old of Algerian descent with a security file for Islamic radicalization was identified by a severed finger. Several of his relatives are being detained by police.

French President Francois Hollande, meanwhile, stated he would like the state of emergency to last three months.

At the concert hall

“It was just a Friday night at a rock show,” wrote Isabel Bowdery on Facebook a day after being inside Paris’s Bataclan concert hall to watch the band Eagles of Death Metal. “Everyone was dancing and smiling. And then when the men came through the front entrance and began the shooting, we naively believed it was all part of the show.”

But it quickly became apparent this was an attack. Near the front, Mark Boston was recording the music as the gunfire went off.

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Amid the havoc, Bowdery said she played dead for over an hour while pools of blood filled the floor around her. Though she survived, as did all the band members, eighty-nine people from inside that hall weren’t as fortunate. Among the dead was the 36-year-old Nick Alexander from England, who was a professional merchandise vendor.

At least three more people succumbed to their wounds in hospital on Sunday, bringing the death count from the attack to at least 132.

Meanwhile, in Turkey

In his debut at the G20 summit, Justin Trudeau kept largely to the topics of climate change and infrastructure investment for the business forum held in Turkey. However,when asked about the Paris attack, the Prime Minister said that Canada would be there to support France in the weeks and months to come.

Meanwhile, a side meeting took place at the G20 summit between President Barack Obama and Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

White House officials said the two reportedly agreed on the need for UN-mediations between the Syrian government and its opposition. However, a Russian foreign policy adviser told media the two world leaders still differ on tactics in the fight against Islamic State, though both sides have common goals in eliminating the terrorist organization.