For France, victims were not faceless

He added: “We will keep going to the stadiums, and especially our beloved national stadium in Saint-Denis”.

Closer to home, authorities detained and questioned hundreds of people as a search continued in France and Belgium for at least two suspects and their accomplices linked to the attacks.

“What do the terrorists want?”

Moscow has said it is open to greater military cooperation, but many Western leaders have rejected this proposal, saying they are reluctant to ally themselves with supporters of the Assad government.

Nawaz Sharif said Pakistan has lost thousands of lives in fight against terrorism and its economy had suffered losses of billions of dollars as a result of terrorist attacks.

“Freedom does not need to be avenged but to be served”, Hollande said.

Windows were draped with French flags in an uncharacteristic display of patriotism, but the locked-down courtyard ceremony at the Invalides national monument lacked the defiance of January, when a million people poured through the streets to honour those killed by Islamic extremist gunmen.

A minute’s silence followed, and a solo cellist played the melancholic strains of Bach’s Sarabande.

President Francois Hollande had asked people to hoist the tricolor in patriotic solidarity with the 130 people massacred two weeks ago in Paris.

French flags hang from an office building in Paris, Friday, Nov. 27, 2015.

“The flag and “La Marseillaise” became symbols in the hearts of billions of people”.

Both Abaaoud and Boulahecen died on November 18 in a shootout with police in St. Denis north of Paris at an apartment where the militant Islamist had been staying.

Still others here fear their country is tilting in the opposite direction, as the government considers writing the current state of emergency – recently extended for another three months – into the constitution. Among them were people of different generations, but mostly young, not older than 35 years.

Eric Ouzounian, a journalist and documentary-maker, said France and its recent leaders “bear a heavy responsibility for what has happened”.

His message – in a speech he had penned himself rather than delegating it to speechwriters – was that France would not change. Europe is incapable of lifting itself out of the liberalism in which it is bogged down.

The family of Nick Alexander, a British merchandising manager who was killed at the Bataclan concert hall, said they were “proud to stand in unity” with others affected by the attacks.

“They have the cult of death, but we, we have love, love of life”.

“Friday, November 13. The day that we will never forget”.

President Francois Hollande led a memorial service attended by survivors of the attacks, the families of victims, past presidents, and over a thousand members of the public.