Officials: Manhunt for suspected Paris attacker on the run
PARIS, France -- Two French law enforcement officials say a collective panic in several Paris neighborhoods, including Plaza de Republique, was a false alarm. One of the officials said the crowd in the plaza apparently panicked after hearing firecrackers.
A French security official said someone had reached out to police in the plaza out of panic, and when officers arrived with weapons drawn, the crowd dispersed in fear.
The official called it a moment of collective panic. The official had no information of any threats to the area.
Both officials weren't authorized to be publicly named according to government policy.
Close by, panic broke out near a small Cambodian restaurant and a bar that were the scenes of shooting on Friday night and police were seen running with guns drawn.
This, after French police put out a photo of a fugitive in the Paris attacks on Sunday, saying the suspect is on the run and too dangerous for anyone outside law enforcement to engage directly.
Police identified the man suspected of renting the car that delivered attackers to the Bataclan concert hall as Salah Abdeslam, a 26-year-old born in Brussels. "Do not intervene yourself," warns the message issued Sunday evening.
Abdeslam is thought to be directly involved in Friday's attacks, which killed 129 people and wounded hundreds in the worst violence in France in decades, French security officials said.
He is one of three brothers believed to be involved in the killings; one was arrested in Belgium and another died in the attack, the first official said.
Abdeslam rented the black Volkswagen Polo used by the group of hostage-takers that left at least 89 people dead inside the Bataclan, another official said. Both spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing.
Seven people were detained Sunday in Belgium in connection with deadly attacks in Paris as the city entered three days of mourning for the 129 people killed in the worst violence in France in decades.
French troops deployed by the thousands and tourist sites were shuttered in one of the most visited cities on Earth as more details of the investigation emerged.
The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for Friday's gun and bomb attacks on a stadium, a concert hall and Paris cafes that also wounded 350 people, 99 of them seriously.
As many as three of the seven suicide bombers who died in the attacks were French citizens, as was at least one of the men arrested in neighboring Belgium.
A French police official said a suicide attacker identified by a skin sample was believed to be living in the Paris suburbs before the attacks. A Belgian official said two of the seven people wired with suicide vests were French men living in Brussels, and among those arrested was another French citizen living in the Belgian capital.
The new information stoked fears of homegrown terrorism in a country that has exported more jihadis than any other in Europe. All three gunmen in the January attacks on the Charlie Hebdo newspaper and a kosher supermarket in Paris were French.
This time, three teams of attackers were involved and seven suicide bombers blew themselves up - three near the stadium, three at the concert hall and one not far from it, authorities said.
A Brussels parking ticket found inside the Volkswagen Polo parked outside the Bataclan concert hall led to one of the men arrested in Belgium, according to a French police official.
Three Kalashnikovs were found inside the other car known to have been used in the attacks, a Seat found in Montreuil, a suburb 6 kilometers (nearly 4 miles) east of the French capital, according to the police official, who could not be named because the investigation is ongoing.
Another official in Belgium said the seven people detained would learn later Sunday whether they would be held in custody longer. Three other people were arrested there Saturday.
That official, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the ongoing investigation, also said two of the seven attackers who died in Paris on Friday night were French men living in Brussels. He said one was living in the Molenbeek neighborhood, which is considered a focal point for religious extremism and fighters going to Syria.
Security was heightened across France, across Europe's normally open borders, even across the ocean in New York, and how to respond to the Paris attacks became a key point among U.S. Democratic presidential hopefuls at a debate Saturday night.
President Barack Obama on Sunday called the terror attacks in Paris an "attack on the civilized world."
Obama, speaking at the G-20 summit in Turkey focusing on fighting terrorism, pledged U.S. solidarity with France in the effort to hunt down the perpetrators and bring them to justice.
At the request of France, the European Union will hold a special meeting of its interior and justice ministers Friday to assess the impact of the Paris attacks.
In Paris, the shining sun and warm air felt cruelly incongruous.
Streets, parks and commerce were unusually empty for such a mild, clear day, and several city monuments were closed for security reasons or to express the city's grief.
Some Parisians and tourists defied the high security, walking past heavily-armed soldiers in body armor to take pictures beneath the Eiffel Tower.
In its statement claiming responsibility, the Islamic State group called Paris "the capital of prostitution and obscenity" and mocked France's air attacks on suspected IS targets in Syria and Iraq.
A French survivor of the rampage at Paris' Bataclan concert hall said he was struck by how young the attackers were.
Julien Pearce, journalist at Europe 1 radio, was at the Bataclan concert hall on Friday to attend the concert by the American rock band Eagles of Death Metal. He said when the three attackers stormed in "it took me few seconds to realize it was gunshots."
Pearce and his friends immediately got down on the floor to avoid the random shots, then ran and crawled into a tiny dark room next to the stage.
"There was no exit, so we were just in another trap, less exposed, but still a trap," he said.
Pearce said he could discreetly look out and see one of the assailants. He says "he seemed very young. That's what struck me, his childish face, very determined, cold, calm, frightening."
Once the attackers paused to reload, his group ran across the stage to the emergency exit, helping a wounded woman out. Looking back, he saw "dozens and dozens of entangled, bullet-riddled bodies in a pool of blood." Eighty-nine people were killed at the hall.
Film producer David Pierret, who survived the attack, said he was sitting on the terrace of the Carillon bar with friends when assailants suddenly started firing Kalashnikov assault rifles.
"By some miracle I was on the far side. My neighbor will have been killed," he said. "Immediately we ran down to the Canal Saint Martin. But they followed. It must have been in a car. We didn't look back. They were firing in the direction of the canal. We ran all the way round to the McDonald's, they were firing at McDonald's. We ran around again back to the Carillon and that's when I saw the bodies on the ground," he said.
"I didn't know if they were male or female. There was a very strange long silence, and then screaming."
President Francois Hollande has said that France, which is already bombing Islamic State targets in Syria and Iraq in a U.S.-led coalition, would increase its military efforts to crush IS and be "merciless" against the extremists.
The investigation sprawled well beyond France's borders, since Paris Prosecutor Francois Molins said some attackers mentioned Syria and Iraq.
French authorities are particularly concerned about the threat from hundreds of French Islamic radicals who have traveled to Syria and returned home, possibly with dangerous skills.
Details about one attacker began to emerge: 29-year-old Frenchman Ismael Mostefai, who had a record of petty crime and had been flagged in 2010 for ties to Islamic radicalism. He was identified from fingerprints found on a finger amid the carnage from a Paris concert hall, the Paris prosecutor said. A judicial official and lawmaker Jean-Pierre Gorges confirmed his identity.
Police detained his father, a brother and other relatives Saturday night, and they were still being questioned Sunday, the judicial official said.
Struggling to keep his country calm and united after an exceptionally violent year, Hollande met Sunday with opposition leaders - conservative rival and former President Nicolas Sarkozy as well as increasingly popular far-right leader Marine Le Pen, who has used the attacks on Paris to advance her anti-immigrant agenda.
On the streets, the entire nation was enveloped in mourning. Flags were lowered and Notre Dame Cathedral - closed to tourists like many Paris sites - planned a special church service later Sunday for victims' families. Well-wishers heaped flowers and notes on a monument to the dead in the neighborhood where attackers sprayed gunfire on cafe diners and concert-goers.
Quentin Bongard said he left one of the targeted cafes after a fight with his girlfriend just moments before the attacks. They both narrowly escaped because she had gone inside to pay and hid behind a couch.
"Those are all places that I go often to," the Paris resident said, still shaken. "We just want to come here, bring flowers, because we don't want to be terrorized ... but it is frightening."
Even in their grief, residents were defiant about maintaining the lifestyle that has made their city a world treasure. Olivier Bas was among several hundred who gathered late Saturday at the site of the Bataclan hall massacre. Although Paris was quiet and jittery, Bas intended to go out for a drink - "to show that they won't win."
Meanwhile, refugees fleeing to the continent by the tens of thousands feared that the Paris attacks will prompt EU nations to put up even more razor-wire border fences and other obstacles to their quest to start a new life.
A Syrian passport found next to the body of one of the men who attacked France's national stadium suggested that its owner passed through Greece into the European Union and on through Macedonia and Serbia last month. It's a route tens of thousands of people fleeing war and poverty in Syria and elsewhere have been using.
A top European Union official insisted Sunday that the bloc's refugee policy doesn't need to be overhauled in the wake of the Paris attacks and urged world leaders not to start treating asylum-seekers as terrorists.
"Those who organized these attacks, and those who carried them out, are exactly those who the refugees are fleeing," European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker told reporters at the G-20 summit in Turkey. "There is no need to revise the European Union's entire refugee policy."
The latest on the deadly attacks in Paris. (All times local):
7 p.m.
French authorities say they have formally identified one of the suicide attackers at the national stadium and another man who attacked a restaurant in central Paris.
One of the men was 20 and the other was 31. Both were French nationals living in Belgium.
A third man, who died in the assault on the Bataclan concert hall, was identified earlier as 29-year-old Ismael Mostefai, a Frenchman with known ties to Islamic radicalism.
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6:50 p.m.
Police have cleared Paris' iconic Republique Plaza, where hundreds of mourners had gathered on Sunday, and panic has broken out at the scene of one of the Friday night's attacks.
In France's 10th arrondissement, near a small Cambodian restaurant and a bar that were the scenes of shooting on Friday night, panic broke out and police broke through with guns drawn.
The two are about a 10-minute walk apart, in the same general area of Paris.
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6:35 p.m.
The widow of David Haines, a British aid worker killed by Islamic State militants, says attacks in Paris and elsewhere show the world is no longer a safe place.
Dragana Haines told The Associated Press on Sunday that she finds it "unbelievable that in today's age somebody is actually killing in the name of religion."
Haines' husband was beheaded last September by militant Mohammed Emwazi, known as "Jihadi John." The U.S. has said Emwazi was possibly killed in a drone attack Thursday.
Haines says "he was just one of the players in this big game ... I'm afraid this is not over yet."
"Looking at the things that happened in Paris ... few days before in Beirut, Baghdad," Haines says. "No, I don't think the world is a safe place."
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6:20 p.m.
French police have issued a wanted notice with a photo of a man suspected in the Paris attacks.
The notice, released Sunday evening, is for Salah Abdeslam, a 26-year-old man born in Brussels. It warns people who see him that he is dangerous, saying "do not intervene yourself."
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6:15 p.m.
Chancellor Angela Merkel is planning to attend a soccer friendly between Germany and the Netherlands on Tuesday despite security concerns following the Paris attacks.
Germany was playing France in Paris on Friday when the attacks there took place, some in the vicinity of the stadium.
Merkel's office on Sunday confirmed a report by German daily Bild that she would be going to the match in Hannover, but didn't provide details.
The newspaper quoted Merkel's deputy, Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel, as saying that "now of all times we mustn't be cowed."
It wasn't immediately clear which other members of her Cabinet would attend.
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5:55 p.m.
Leaders of the world's wealthiest economies have held a minute of silence in honor of the victims of the Paris attacks as well as those who perished in other attacks.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan invited the Group of 20 leaders to stand in silence at an opening session Sunday of their two-day summit meeting near the Mediterranean coastal city of Antalya.
Erdogan said the minute of silence was to commemorate the victims of the Paris attacks, those who died in twin suicide bombings last month in the Turkish capital, Ankara, as well as victims of attacks elsewhere.
The summit is focusing on ways to step up the fight against the Islamic State group following the Paris attacks.
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5:45 p.m.
A French man believed directly involved in Friday's attacks in Paris is on the run and the subject of a manhunt, French security officials say.
The man, one of three brothers believed involved in the killings in central Paris, rented the black Volkswagen Polo used by a group of hostage-takers that left at least 89 people dead inside the Bataclan concert hall, one official said.
One other police official said the manhunt is believed to involve at least one suspect. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation was ongoing. One of the suspect's brothers has been arrested in Belgium and another brother died in the attack, the first official said.
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5:30 p.m.
Prayers, services and marches have been held in the Nordic region to remember the victims and families of the deadly Paris attacks.
In Denmark, Crown Prince Frederik and several government ministers attended a memorial service on Sunday for the victims at the French Reformed Church in the capital, Copenhagen.
In Norway, high Mass was led in Oslo Cathedral by the priest, Elisabeth Thorsen, who called on Christians and Muslims to condemn extremism, which she said had nothing to do with religion, adding that "Islam means peace and Jesus is a prince of peace."
In the western Norwegian city of Bergen, people laid flowers and lit candles at a central square. Chloe Bezault, spokeswoman of French cultural organization Alliance Francaise, said it "warmed the hearts" of the French to receive such support from Norway and the rest of the world.
In Finland, peace marches drew various Christian denominations and representatives of Sunni, Shiite and Jewish communities in the capital, Helsinki, and evening gatherings were planned at various churches nationwide.
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5:05 p.m.
Germany's defense minister is pushing back against the idea that extremists are entering Europe as refugees.
European officials have expressed concern after a passport discovered close to the body of one of the Paris attackers was found to have been used last month passing through Greece and the Balkans.
Ursula von der Leyen said Sunday that linking Europe's migrant crisis to the threat of terrorism would be wrong.
She says that "terrorism is so well organized that it doesn't have to risk the arduous refugee routes, and the sometimes life-threatening crossings at sea."
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5 p.m.
Some 500 Berliners have spontaneously begun singing 'La Marseillaise' after marking a minute's silence for the victims of the Paris attacks.
The crowd gathered outside the French embassy Sunday in Berlin to lay flowers and candles in tribute to those killed and wounded in the attacks. After singing the French anthem, they marched arm-in-arm through Berlin's Brandenburg Gate amid the pouring rain.
The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for attacks in Paris on Friday night that killed 129 people and wounded over 350. French President Francois Hollande, already involved in bombing IS targets in Iraq and Syria, has vowed to crush the group.
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4:45 p.m.
The secretary general of the world's largest body of Muslim nations, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, has condemned the attacks in Paris and has expressed the organization's "unwavering solidary and support to France."
From the Saudi-based headquarters of the 57-nation bloc, OIC chief Iyad Madani said the organization firmly rejects any acts that violate the right to life and that seek to undermine the "values of freedom and equality that France has consistently promoted."
On Sunday, Sunni scholars with the Muslim World League based in Islam's holiest city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia also condemned the attack in Paris and one that took place in Lebanon a day earlier.
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4:40 p.m.
Italian officials say a 28-year-old woman from Venice was among those killed inside the Bataclan Theater in Paris.
Italian consul Andrea Cavallari told reporters Sunday outside a Paris morgue that Valeria Solesin had been positively identified based on information provided by the family, who so far have remained in Italy.
Solesin was at the concert with her Italian boyfriend and other friends when extremists began shooting on the crowd. The others lost sight of Solesin as they escaped. Her friends spent a day searching for her, visiting hospitals in hopes of finding her among the injured.
Her mother, Luciana Milani described her daughter as a "wonderful person" who had been living in Paris for six years and studied at the Sorbonne.
Cavallari said another Italian woman had been wounded and was recovering after surgery.
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4:25 p.m.
Three of the seven suicide bombers killed in the Paris attacks were French citizens, as was at least one of the seven other people arrested in neighboring Belgium suspected of links to the attacks.
A French police official confirmed that the suicide attacker identified by a skin sample had been living in a Paris suburb. A Belgian official said two of the seven suicide bombers were French men living in Brussels, and among those arrested was another French citizen living in the Belgian capital.
The new information highlighted growing fears of possible homegrown extremism in France, a country that has exported more jihadis than any other in Europe.
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4:15 p.m.
The ATP has held a minute's silence for the victims of the Paris attacks.
The tribute came Sunday before Novak Djokovic and Kei Nishikori were to play in the opening match of the season-ending ATP finals at the O2 Arena in London.
The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for Friday's attacks on the Stade de France, a concert hall and Paris cafes that left 129 people dead and more than 350 wounded, 99 of them seriously.
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4:10 p.m.
The shining sun and warm Paris air felt cruelly incongruous as France entered three days of mourning for 129 people killed because they went out on a Friday night.
Streets, parks and stores were unusually empty Sunday for such a mild, clear day, and several city monuments were closed because of security reasons or to express their grief.
Some Parisians and tourists defied the high security, walking past heavily armed soldiers in body armor to take pictures beneath the Eiffel Tower.
Survivors who endured two hours of being held hostage by suicide bombers at the Bataclan concert hall, initially silent after the ordeal, have started sharing their memories. Julien Pearce, journalist at Europe 1 radio, says "it took me few seconds to realize it was gunshots."
Pearce and his friends crawled into a tiny dark room next to the stage where he could see one of the assailants. He says "he seemed very young. That's what struck me: his childish face, very determined, cold, calm, frightening."
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4 p.m.
German President Joachim Gauck has struck a defiant tone against terrorism during an annual event in Germany honoring those killed by war and violent oppression.
Germany's head of state began his speech Sunday by remembering those killed in the Paris attacks and pledging solidarity with the people of France. Gauck said the perpetrators of Friday's attacks, which he described as starting "a new kind of war," had struck at open societies worldwide.
But he said those responsible for the killings and those who support them, should know "we'll bow our heads to the dead, but we'll never bow to terror."
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2:55 p.m.
A French survivor of the rampage at Paris' Bataclan concert hall says he was struck by how young the attackers were.
Julien Pearce, journalist at Europe 1 radio, was at the Bataclan concert hall on Friday to attend the concert by the American rock band Eagles of Death Metal. He said when the three attackers stormed in "it took me few seconds to realize it was gunshots."
Pearce and his friends immediately got down on the ground to avoid the random shots, then ran and crawled into a tiny dark room next to the stage. He says "there was no exit, so we were just in another trap, less exposed, but still a trap."
Pearce said could discreetly look out and see one of the assailants. He says "he seemed very young. That's what struck me, his childish face, very determined, cold, calm, frightening."
Once the attackers reloaded, his group rang across the stage to the emergency exit, helping a wounded woman out. Looking back, he saw "dozens and dozens of entangled, bullet-riddled bodies in a pool of blood."
Eighty-nine people were killed at the hall.
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2:30 p.m.
Britain's Home Secretary says British police are working closely with their counterparts in Paris and Brussels to help find anyone involved in the attacks in France.
Theresa May spoke Sunday after chairing government's emergency committee known as COBRA, and promised to stand "shoulder to shoulder" with France in the manhunt to trace those responsible for the "barbaric attacks."
She said Sunday that people will see increased levels of security at borders, though the U.K. terror level will remain the same at severe.
May says a handful of Britons are thought to have died in the Paris attacks on Friday night and that a crisis team has been sent "to provide extra support" to those in the hospital. The attacks killed at least 129 people and left over 350 wounded.
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3:20 p.m.
A Belgian official says a Franco-Belgian investigating team has been set up to probe the Brussels links to the Paris attacks.
The official, who spoke to The Associated Press in Brussels by phone, said French investigators have already arrived in the Belgian capital for a joint effort to find the people behind the killings in Paris.
He says two of the seven attackers who died in Paris on Friday night were French men living in Brussels. One of the French attackers was living in Brussels' Molenbeek neighborhood, which is considered a focal point for religious extremism and fighters going to Syria.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity due to the ongoing investigation.
-Raf Casert in Brussels
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3:10 p.m.
Jordan's King Abdullah II says terrorism is the "greatest threat to our region" and that Muslims must lead the fight against it.
In a speech Sunday he says confronting extremism is "both a regional and international responsibility, but it is mainly our battle, us Muslims, against those who seek to hijack our societies and generations with intolerance takfiri ideology."
"Takfiri" refers to the radical Islamic practice of declaring one's enemies to be infidels worthy of death.
The speech did not specifically refer to the attacks in Paris that killed 129 people, but Abdullah has previously condemned them as a "cowardly terrorist act."
Jordan is taking part in the U.S.-led airstrikes against the Islamic State group, which has claimed responsibility for the Paris attacks.
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3 p.m.
International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach says he's confident that Brazilian authorities can protect next year's Olympics in Rio de Janeiro despite the deadly attacks in Paris.
Bach tells The Associated Press "we have confidence in the Brazilian authorities and in the international cooperation of their security agencies."
Bach says security will be discussed when IOC officials travel to Rio in coming days for their latest review of Olympic preparations. The Rio Games open on Aug. 5.
The attacks in Paris came as the French capital bids to host the 2024 Olympics. Rome, Los Angeles, Hamburg and Budapest are the other candidates. The IOC will select the host city in 2017.
Bach says "terrorism is not restricted to Paris or France, it's an international challenge."
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2:50 p.m.
Balkan authorities are tracking the travels of a man whose Syrian passport was found next to a dead suicide bomber at France's national stadium on Friday night.
Officials in Greece say the passport's owner entered the country on Oct. 3 through Leros, one of the eastern Aegean islands that tens of thousands of people fleeing war and poverty have been using as a gateway into the 28-nation European Union.
Serbian police say he registered at its border entry with Macedonia on Oct. 7.
Croatian police say he was checked at a refugee center on Oct. 8. Police spokeswoman Helena Biocic said Sunday the man was not flagged as suspicious and continued his journey toward Hungary and Austria.
It is still not yet clear if the Syrian passport is fake or real, or if it belonged to the dead bomber. European officials say there is a brisk trade in fake Syrian passports to help people get refugee status in the EU.
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2:35 p.m.
A French police official says three Kalashnikovs have been found inside a Seat car that was used in the attacks on central Paris.
The official, who could not be named because the investigation is ongoing, said the weapons have not yet been analyzed.
Two cars are known to be involved in the attacks that left 129 people dead and over 350 wounded: a Volkswagen Polo parked at the Bataclan concert hall and the Seat where the arms were found Sunday.
-Lori Hinnant in Paris.
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2:20 p.m.
A Belgian official says seven people have been detained in Belgium linked to the Paris attacks.
The official, who spoke to The Associated Press in Brussels by phone, also said two of the seven attackers who died in Paris on Friday night were French men living in Brussels. He said one of the French attackers was living in the Molenbeek neighborhood, which is considered a focal point for religious extremism and fighters going to Syria.
The official said the seven people who were detained will hear later Sunday whether they will be held in custody longer.
He spoke on condition of anonymity due to the ongoing investigation.
-Raf Casert in Brussels.
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2:10 p.m.
Tower Bridge lit in the colors of the French flag. A candlelight vigil in Trafalgar Square. The Tricolor at half-staff at Downing Street.
Britain has been full of acts of solidarity with France after the attacks Friday that left 129 people dead in Paris.
On BBC's Andrew Marr program - a TV public affairs show that runs nationally on Sunday morning - Marr introduced French bass Nicolas Courjal. The singer -who is appearing in "Carmen" at the Royal Opera House - would offer a "musical tribute to the people of Paris."
Courjal then sang a stirring a capella version of La Marseillaise, the French national anthem. French Ambassador Sylvie Bermann, who was on the show discussing security cooperation, barely held back her tears.
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2 p.m.
U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is warning the international community that its response to the deadly Paris attacks should be robust but must remain within the rule of law.
Ban told reporters that any response that was illegal or failed to respect human rights would simply fan the fire and perpetuate a cycle of violence. He spoke at a news conference Sunday at the G-20 summit in Antalya, Turkey.
Ban says "at this time of heightened tension, I caution against action that would only perpetuate the cycle of hatred and violence."
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1:50 p.m.
Israel's prime minister is calling on the world to "wake up" to the threat of Islamic extremism after Friday's deadly attacks in Paris.
Benjamin Netanyahu told his Cabinet on Sunday that the world must join forces to confront the threat.
He says "in Israel, as in France, terror is terror ... and what stands behind it is radical Islam and its desire to destroy its victims."
He said the world should condemn deadly Palestinian attacks against Israelis the way it condemns attacks elsewhere in the world. He also urged Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who condemned the Paris attacks, to speak out against attacks on Israelis.
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1:40 p.m.
At the request of France, the European Union will hold a special meeting of its interior and justice ministers next Friday to assess the impact of the Paris attacks.
French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve asked Sunday for the meeting, saying "our battle against terrorism must be, more than ever, steadfast," and must be reinforced at the European level.
The EU presidency, held by Luxembourg, immediately obliged.
Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for killing 129 people and wounding over 350 others in attacks across Paris on Friday night. French President Francois Hollande has vowed to crush IS extremists.
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1:25 p.m.
Pope Francis has once again condemned the Paris terror attacks, calling it "blasphemy" to use the name of God to justify "violence and hatred."
The pope expressed shock at the "barbarity" of the attacks and told followers in St. Peter's Square on Sunday that "we wonder how can it come to the heart of man to conceive and carry out of such horrible events."
The pope added that "the road of violence and hatred does not resolve humanity's problems. And using the name of God to justify this road is blasphemy."
Francis expressed his deepest condolences to French President Francois Hollande and to the French people.
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12:45 p.m.
Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy is calling for a change in France's Syria policy and suggests working with Russia to "destroy" the Islamic State group.
Sarkozy, head of the conservatives, says "we need everyone (...) There can't be two coalitions in Syria." He spoke following his meeting with French President Francois Hollande.
France is part of the U.S.-led coalition that has been striking IS targets in Syria and Iraq for the past year.
Sarkozy said tight security must not only protect the upcoming U.N. climate conference in Paris but also all French people. So far 127 world leaders are expected to attend the first day of the climate conference on Nov. 30.
Hollande was meeting Sunday with opposition leaders, including popular far-right National Front leader Marine Le Pen, who has used the attacks on Paris to advance an anti-immigrant agenda.
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12:35 p.m.
A top European Union official says the bloc's refugee policy does not need to be overhauled in the wake of the Paris attacks and is urging world leaders not to start treating asylum-seekers as terrorists.
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said Sunday that "those who organized these attacks, and those who carried them out, are exactly those who the refugees are fleeing."
Juncker told reporters at the G-20 summit in Turkey that "there is no need to revise the European Union's entire refugee policy."
Poland incoming government declared Saturday it would not accept refugees without security guarantees. Juncker urged them "to be serious about this, and not to give in (to) these basic reactions."
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12:20 p.m.
President Barack Obama is calling the terror attacks in Paris an "attack on the civilized world."
Obama also pledged U.S. solidarity with France in the effort to hunt down the perpetrators and bring them to justice.
Obama was speaking Sunday in a meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the sidelines of the Group of 20 economic summit in the Turkish city of Antalya featuring leading industrial and emerging-market nations.
Erdogan says there will be a "strong message" on fighting terrorism coming out of the G-20 summit.
Obama also says the U.S. stands with Turkey and Europe in their efforts to reduce the flow of asylum-seekers into Europe. He says the U.S. and Turkey will redouble efforts to resolve the war in Syria.
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12:05 p.m.
Serbian police say the owner of a passport found near a suicide bomber in Paris entered the country on Oct. 7 from Macedonia - part of a wave of asylum-seekers crossing the Balkans toward Western Europe.
Police said in a statement Sunday that the man, identified only as A.A., formally requested asylum in Serbia. The statement says it's the same passport holder registered as entering Greece on Oct. 3.
The Syrian passport was found next to the body of a man who attacked France's national stadium on Friday night.
Officials in Greece say the passport's owner entered through Leros, one of the eastern Aegean islands that tens of thousands of people fleeing war and poverty have been using as a gateway into the European Union.
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11:45 p.m.
Germany's Foreign Ministry says one of its citizens was killed in Friday's attacks in Paris.
The ministry's statement Sunday didn't say how or where the German man was killed, nor did it identify him.
The Paris correspondent for German public broadcaster ARD, Mathias Werth, wrote on Twitter that the man had been sitting on the terrace of a cafe when he was killed.
The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for the attacks that killed 129 people and wounded over 350 across Paris on Friday night.
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11:35 p.m.
Britain Home Secretary Theresa May says measures are already in place to have the military assist police in the U.K. in the event of a large-scale urban attack.
May declined to comment directly on a newspaper report that elite special forces had been had been moved closer to London in the event of an attack. The Sunday Times reported the SAS counter-terror unit had been moved by helicopter to RAF Northolt in west London from its base in Hereford, 135 miles (217 kilometers) from the British capital.
While May wouldn't comment on such movements, she told the BBC "we have arrangements in place to give the police military support."
May reiterated Britain's solidarity with the French following the carnage in Paris on Friday night that left 129 people dead, 350 wounded.
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10:35 p.m.
A French judicial official says among those arrested and being questioned in the Paris attacks investigation was a brother of one of the seven suicide bombers.
No one answered the door Sunday morning at the brother's home in the French town of Bondoufle, outside of Paris, but neighbor Eric Pudal said roughly 20 heavily armed police swooped in on the home Saturday evening.
Pudal said he was startled by the arrest, describing the family, which recently welcomed a baby daughter, as "very nice, very sociable."
Pudal said he had never met the reported suicide bomber, Ismael Mostefai, and had never heard him being discussed by his neighbors.
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10:05 a.m.
An emotional Madonna asked the crowd to observe a moment of silence for the victims of the Paris attacks and their families during a concert in Stockholm.
Her eyes welling up and voice cracking, Madonna said she was considering cancelling Saturday night's show "because in many ways I feel torn. Why am I up here dancing and having fun when people are crying over the loss of their loved ones?"
But then, she said, she thought canceling the show would let the terrorists win: "Why should I allow them to stop me and to stop us from enjoying freedom?"
"Only love will change the world," Madonna said, before asking the crowd in Tele 2 Arena to fall silent and say a prayer for the victims. She resumed the concert with her 1989 hit single "Like a Prayer."
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9:30 a.m.
A French judicial official says a Seat car with suspected links to Friday's deadly Paris attacks has been found by police in Montreuil, a suburb 6 kilometers (nearly 4 miles) east of the French capital.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because she was not publicly authorized to speak, could not immediately confirm if this was the same black Seat linked to the gun attacks on the Le Carillon bar and the Le Petit Cambodge restaurant in Rue Alibert in the city's 10th district.
Paris prosecutor Francois Molins said Saturday that gunmen armed with automatic weapons pulled up in that model of car before opening fire, killing 15 people and injuring 10.
The Islamic state group has claimed responsibility for the attacks in Paris, which killed 129 people and wounded over 350.
-Thomas Adamson in Paris.
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8:30 a.m.
French officials have identified one of the Paris attackers as Ismael Mostefai, a 29-year-old Frenchman who had been flagged for links to Islamic radicalism.
A French judicial official says Mostefai's father, a brother and other family members have been detained and are being questioned Sunday.
The mayor of the French city of Chartres, Jean-Pierre Gorges, identified Mostefai as a resident in a Facebook post. The judicial official confirmed the name, speaking on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing.
The Paris prosecutor said one of the attackers was a 29-year-old Frenchman born in the Chartres region who had been known to authorities for radicalism. The prosecutor said he was identified by fingerprints on a finger found in the carnage of the Paris attacks Friday night, which left at least 129 dead and hundreds wounded.
The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for the attacks.
- Angela Charlton in Paris.
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7:25 a.m.
Around 100 Iranians held a candlelight vigil in front of the French Embassy in Tehran to mourn the victims of the Paris attacks.
The gathering late Saturday was reported by the Shargh daily, a reformist newspaper. The paper reported Sunday that some of those gathered had posted hand-written messages of condolence on nearby walls.
The attacks in Paris, which killed 129 people and were claimed by the Islamic State group, have been condemned by political and religious leaders across the Muslim world. Iran has provided training and other support to forces battling the extremist group in neighboring Iraq.
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7 a.m.
Special church services are planned at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris and around France in honor of 129 people killed in attacks that terrified the country.
Notre Dame, like other Paris sites, is closed to tourists Sunday but will be open to church-goers coming for services during the day.
A special Mass by Paris Cardinal Andre Vingt-Trois will be held at 6:30 p.m. (1730 GMT; 1230 PM Eastern Time) for families of victims and survivors, and the church will ring its renowned bells in a special homage.
In a message to parishioners, the cardinal says, "Our country knows the pain of mourning and must face barbarity propagated by fanatical groups."
French Muslim groups have firmly denounced the attacks, claimed by the Islamic State group. Some are concerned they will prompt a backlash against France's overwhelmingly moderate Muslim community.
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2:30 a.m.
The Empire State Building is dark in sympathy for the people of Paris after more than 120 people were killed in Friday's series of shootings and explosions.
Saturday is the second consecutive night the 102-story New York landmark is not lit up.
The 408-foot (125-meter)spire atop One World Trade Center is lit again Saturday night in the colors of the French flag. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo says the spire will remain lit blue, white and red on Sunday.
New York City's Mayor Bill de Blasio says an arch in Manhattan's Washington Square Park was also illuminated with the French colors on Saturday.
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2:05 a.m.
Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull says the only Australian casualty has undergone surgery and is expected to make a full recovery.
Only one Australian was injured in the attacks. Emma Parkinson, 19, of Hobart, was shot in the hip at the Bataclan concert hall.
Turnbull said he spoke to Parkinson after she had undergone surgery in a Paris hospital. Australian Ambassador to France Stephen Brady was a frequent visitor to her bedside.
"She's a brave girl and, in all the circumstances, in good spirits," Turnbull said.
