Iceland review - 2016, Page 8

6 ICELAND REVIEW
“We must show moderation and have self-restraint in order to prevent a war
from beginning,” said former President of Iceland Vigdís Finnbogadóttir
following the Paris attacks on November 13. Vigdís has closer ties to Paris
than most, having been a student of the Sorbonne and a French teacher for
years. “And under no circumstances may we let this influence our opinion of
people innocent of those events, but perhaps belonging to the same religion,”
she added.
No Icelander lost their life in the attacks but Caroline Courrioux, wife of
Finnbogi Rútur Finnbogason, an Icelander studying at the Sorbonne, was
shot twice in the leg at Le Carillon café that night. Doctors say she can expect
a full recovery.
Finnbogi Rútur moved to Paris five years ago after the civil war broke out
in the Syrian capital Damascus, where he was studying Arabic.
And in the center of Reykjavík, Harpa Concert Hall was lit in the
Tricolore of the French flag, joining other world monuments in a show of
solidarity with the people of France. *
Harpa
in Tricolore
BY PÁLL STEFÁNSSON.