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Danish PM reaffirms "unwavering" fight against terrorism

Xinhua, November 16, 2015 Adjust font size:

Danish Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen said here on Sunday that his government will continue to fight against terrorism despite the Paris attacks that left over 120 dead and hundreds more wounded.

"I have also made it clear that Denmark will continue unwavering participation in the fight against the terrorist group ISIL," Rasmussen told a memorial service held in front of the French embassy in Denmark.

The Danish parliament approved the air strikes against Islamic State (IS, or ISIL) in Iraq in October 2014. It approved on Tuesday last week a decision to deliver a radar contribution, accompanied by 30 operators, to help fight against IS, after its F-16 fighter jets were withdrawn from Iraq in October.

"We refuse to give in to the fear and the dark forces trying to disperse. We will not abandon our values. We will never compromise on our open and free societies," the Danish prime minister told the memorial service, also attended by French ambassador Francois Zimeray.

Rasmussen said the Paris attacks are one of the worst in Europe in recently, nothing that it was "an attack on us all."

He said the extremist fanaticism behind the terrorists was to blame for the tragedy.

"They try to strike a sword down through our world. They try to create a vicious and false dividing line between the West and Islam," Rasmussen said in his speech.

He called on people to stand together firmly and not to compromise, and show solidarity with the French people.

"Let us all stand together for freedom and against extremism. Let us direct our anger against the perpetrators and their backers," Rasmussen said.

"Hold on to everyday life, and not to let ourselves be coward. If we no longer dare to sit at a sidewalk cafe, at a sidewalk restaurant, whether in Paris or in Copenhagen, we would have truly lost," he said. Endit