President offers condolences to French counterpart

President offers condolences to French counterpart

BELGRADE -- Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic has sent condolences to French President Francois Hollande following an attack on the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.

The attack killed at least 12 people in Paris on Wednesday, Tanjug reported.

"We are horrified to hear about the bloody feast of these terrorists, the worst extremists, in the middle of Paris. We feel the deepest sympathy with you and loathe this horrible crime," said Nikolic.

"Please extend the whole of Serbia's most sincere condolences to the families of the victims who lost their lives to the hands of these criminals. We pray for the victims' souls on the day of our greatest Christian holiday - (Orthodox) Christmas. We stand with the brotherly France in these difficult times," Nikolic said in his message to Hollande.

The dead in the attack on the Charlie Hebdo offices included eight journalists, a guest at the weekly, a maintenance man and two policemen, Tanjug reported.

According to Agence France-Presse, the victims include the weekly's editor-in-chief Stephane Charbonnier, known as Charb, and three more caricaturists known throughout France as Cabo, Tignous and Wolinski.