Q FM Africa's Modern Radio
A huge manhunt for the two suspected gunmen in Wednesday’s deadly attack on Charlie Hebdo magazine has entered its third day.
French police are concentrating their search in a rural area of Picardy north-east of Paris where the two men reportedly robbed a petrol station.
For a second night, vigils were held in Paris for the 12 victims of the attack.
In Washington, President Barack Obama signed a book of condolence at the French embassy.
“We go forward together knowing that terror is no match for freedom and ideals we stand for,” he wrote, adding: “Vive la France!”
On Friday the Council of Paris is due to hold an extraordinary meeting in which Charlie Hebdo will be made an honorary citizen of the city.
Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo said it was a rare honour.
French police released photos of the Kouachi brothers – Cherif (L) and Said (R)
“It’s also to give strength, to comfort, and to say that these values which were represented by Charlie Hebdo are an integral part of our values,” she said.
The attackers are believed to be militant Islamists angered by the satirical magazine’s irreverent depictions of the Prophet Muhammad.
Eight journalists, two police officers, a caretaker and a visitor died when two masked men armed with assault rifles burst into the Paris offices. Eleven people were wounded, four of them critically.
Police named the suspects as brothers Cherif and Said Kouachi, born in Paris of Algerian parents.
Two men answering their description robbed a petrol station in Villers-Cotterets, about 80km (50 miles) north-east of Paris on Thursday and the station manager said they were heavily armed with Kalashnikovs and rocket-propelled grenade launchers.
They were last seen driving a Renault Clio car, believed to be the same vehicle they had hijacked in Paris after the attack.
Few details emerged of the search overnight but late on Thursday hundreds of police supported by helicopters were scouring wooded areas in and around the villages of Longpont and Corcy and the town of Villers-Cotterets.
Longpont was sealed off and every house there searched.
Journalist Guillaume Debre told the BBC’s Newsday programme that police believe the two suspects had ditched their car and were on foot.
“The big fear for the police is that the two suspects would be able to reach the border with Belgium and would escape the country,” he said.