By Hajer M'tiri
PARIS
French newspapers have the front pages colored in black on Thursday, a sign of mourning for the attack on Charlie Hebdo on Wednesday.
The attack on the satirical magazine left 12 people dead and 8 injured among them 4 with serious injuries.
"Nous sommes tous Charlies" meaning "We are all Charlies," reads the front page of the newspaper Liberation, while the daily Le Figaro has the headline, "La liberté assassinée' meaning 'Freedom is murdered."
French President Francois Hollande has declared three days of national mourning starting on Thursday.
"Today France is attacked in its heart, in Paris," Hollande said in an address on French television.
Thursday "will be a day of national mourning," the French president announced, adding that "flags will remain at half-mast for three days."
Hollande called on the French people to unite and not to panic, "Our best weapon is our unity. Nothing can divide us, nothing should separate us."
An estimated 100.000 people have demonstrated across France, holding up pens and press cards in a symbolic act in defense of freedom of press.
Around 5000 people gathered in central Paris at the Place de La Republique responding to calls from the French National Journalists' Union and press freedom watchdog Journalists Without Borders.
A number of other rallies are reportedly being organized in cities across France such as Angers, Bordeaux, Lyon and Strasbourg.
A campaign was launched on twitter with the hashtag #JeSuisCharlie (I’m Charlie) to show solidarity with the victims and support to the magazine and freedom of press.
Political cartoonists from around the world reacted on twitter by publishing cartoons dedicated to the victims of the attack.
Among the dead were satirical journalists and cartoonists regarded as legendary across France - editor Stephanie "Charb" Charbonnier, Bernard "Tignou" Verlhac, Jean Cabu and George Wolinski.
Renowned economist and writer Bernard Maris was also killed.
Similar gatherings, including some silent vigils, took place at London’s Trafalgar Square, in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, in Madrid, Brussels, U.S. and elsewhere.
-Brutal attack
On Wednesday, a group of at least two masked men armed with Kalashnikov automatic rifles arrived in a black Citroën and stopped in front of the headquarters of Charlie Hebdo magazine, which had sparked controversy in 2006 and 2012 for publishing comic cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed.
that the gun men arrived at the reception and shot one person, before going to the rest of offices, where the entire newspaper staff was located, and started firing, Paris prosecutor Francois Mollins told a press conference on Wednesday.
The journalists were attacked as they attended an editorial meeting at the publication.
One of the three suspects identified by French police has surrendered on Wednesday evening, according to various French media reports on Thursday.
The French police had earlier identified the three gunmen as Said Kouachi, 34, Cherif Kouachi, 32, and Hamyd Mourad, 18, according to French media reports citing police sources.
The youngest suspect was arrested early Thursday morning. Police published a national warrant with the photos of the two other suspects, who are brothers, in an appeal for eyewitnesses to provide them with information.
One of the gunmen reportedly dropped one of his identification documents at the scene of the attack.
Police forces are carrying out several anti-terrorist raids in Reims, east-northeast of Paris, where the suspects are believed to be hiding.
Mollins said the assailants found themselves facing police as they left the building and there was a shootout, which resulted in no injuries.
They then faced a second group of police officers and engaged in another shootout, also without any injuries. A third shootout resulted in the death of a policeman.
As they left the building, they shouted, "God is great" and claimed to have avenged the Prophet Mohammed, Mollins said.
According to eyewitnesses, the attackers arrived in the nineteenth district, where they crashed their car on Meaux Street before hijacking a Clio and fleeing.
Several anti-terrorist raids are underway in Reims in a hunt for the two other gunmen reportedly involved in the Paris attack.
