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French FM to visit Brazil after plane crash

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-06-04 00:35

PARIS -- French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner will visit Brazil to attend ceremonies in honor of victims of the Air France Airbus A330 flight AF447, announced the French officials on Wednesday.

France's President Nicolas Sarkozy (R) and his wife Carla Bruni-Sarkozy arrive at the Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris for an ecumenical church service on June 3, 2009 for relatives and families of the passengers of Air France's flight 447 that vanished Monday over the Atlantic Ocean. [Agencies]

Related readings:  Missing plane flew well beyond range of radar  Debris found from missing Air France plane  Air France wreckage found, all feared dead  Air France Chinese passengers identified  Air France crash leaves global trail of pain

At the request of the Brazilian president, Kouchner will "travel to Brazil to participate in ceremonies commemorating the victims to be held in Brazil in the coming days," the government spokesman Luc Chatel said in his weekly report of the Council of Ministers.

"The President of the Republic thought it fitting and I agree that we should be represented at the ceremonies that will be held in Brazil," Kouchner said, during a press conference with Czech Foreign Minister Jan Kohout.

Later Wednesday, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Prime Minister Francois Fillon were scheduled to join families of victims and political and religious leaders for an interfaith service at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.

An Air France airliner with 228 people on board from Rio to Paris disappeared Monday over the Atlantic. The disaster claimed the lives of the people of more than 30 nationalities. As a sign of mourning, the French flags were flying at half-staff on Wednesday.

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