Muslims gather in Paris to denounce ISIS
Paris - Hundreds of people gathered in Paris on Friday answering a call by Muslim leaders to denounce the "barbarism" of Islamic State militants, as flags across France flew at half mast after the beheading of a French national. Imams and ordinary Muslims have rallied to condemn the execution of 55-year-old mountaineer Herve Gourdel this week by militants in Algeria with ties to the ISIS jihadists, as the country mourns the brutal murder. "This gathering is the strong and vibrant expression of our desire for national unity and of our unwavering will to live together," Dalil Boubakeur, head of the French Council of the Muslim Faith - an official representative for the country's roughly five million Muslims - told the gathering outside Paris's main mosque. "Islam is a religion of peace", he said, adding it "orders respect for life". Leading Muslim figures also signed a message published in French newspapers Friday condemning "