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France Approves Secret Burials For 'Charlie Hebdo' Attackers

French authorities have approved secret burials for the two brothers who were killed by police following their attack on the offices of the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.

Mayors in two French cities "begrudgingly" agreed to secret burials of Said and Cherif Kouachi who carried out a shooting spree at the magazine on Jan. 7 and eluded police for three days in a rampage that killed 17 people, The Associated Press says.

The BBC says that Said had already been buried in the eastern city of Reims, where he had lived before the attack.

The news agency says Reims Mayor Arnaud Robinet had said earlier in the week that he would "categorically refuse" a request from the Kouachi family to allow Said to be buried there, saying he didn't want "a tomb that could become a shrine for people to gather around or a pilgrimage site for fanatics."

Cherif Kouachi is expected to be buried in his hometown of Gennevilliers, outside Paris, the BBC says.

According to the news agency, there's been no announcement on plans for burying Amedy Coulibaly. Coulibaly killed four people at a Jewish supermarket in Paris on Jan. 9 in a separate attack that is thought to have been coordinated with the Kouachis. Coulibaly is also suspected of killing a French policewoman.

Meanwhile, the AP reports,

"[The] Paris administrative tribunal ruled that Paris police were authorized to ban an 'Islamists out of France' rally planned Sunday by two groups that promote secular and republican values.

"One organizing group, 'Secular Riposte,' said on its Web site that it would instead hold a news conference on Sunday. Resistance Republicaine, another organizer, said it would still hold similar rallies in the southern cities of Bordeaux and Montpellier on Sunday."

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Scott Neuman is a reporter and editor, working mainly on breaking news for NPR's digital and radio platforms.
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