A woman holds candles during a candlelight vigil for the victims
A woman holds candles during a candlelight vigil for the victims following a shooting by gunmen at the offices of weekly newspaper Charlie Hebdo in Paris, in front of the French embassy at Talaat Harb Square, in Cairo, January 9, 2015. Two brothers wanted for the shooting of 12 people at the offices of satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo were killed on Friday in a police raid on the print works north of Paris where they had been holed up with a hostage, officials said. Reuters/Mohamed Abd El Ghany

Prime Minister Tony Abbott has said that Australia needs to stand by France and its people. The Australian PM earlier talked to French President Francois Hollande over the phone.

Abbott says national leaders from moderate Islamic countries should continue condemn terrorist actions. He referred to the King of Saudi, who had earlier "denounced Daesh in the strongest possible terms." The rulers of the UAE and the king of Jordan had also condemned it. While the president of Egypt has been "a positive bulwark against the Muslim Brotherhood and other fundamentalist groups," the religious council in Cairo issued a fatwa against Islamic States and Daesh." Abbott says that the people of Australia should stand "shoulder to shoulder" with the people of France.

The Australian PM asked to media not to get intimidated. "It would be a travesty if we were robust in our criticism of everything except that which might do us harm," SBS quotes Abbott, "We have to be prepared to speak up for our beliefs, we have to be prepared to call things as we see them and of course from time to time people will be upset, offended, insulted, humiliated." Abbott says that the Paris shooting should not affect the way Australian live their life. He says that terrorists will have a sense of victory if Australians allow themselves to change their way of life. Australians should continue to live normal lives as, which is exactly what terrorists don't want them to do. Terrorism aims to scare people from being themselves.

Meanwhile, French police conducted multiple operations simultaneously to end two bloody standoffs on Friday. There were two sieges which ended in the death of four hostages and three gunmen. Cherif and Said Kouachi, the two brothers who had been responsible for killing 12 people working for Charlie Hebdo magazine, were shot dead. They ran to a warehouse in the northern of Paris while firing at police. According to police, anti-terrorist forces rushed to a kosher supermarket where a gunman with reported links to the brothers held hostages. Paris prosecutor Francois Molins said that the gunman had killed four hostages before the assault.

U.S. President Barack Obama has earlier said that his country stands with France. "The U.S. stands with you today, stands with you tomorrow," he said.

Contact the writer: s.mukhopadhyay@IBTimes.com.au

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