File photo of Barack Obama
President Barack Obama will not join other world leaders at Sunday's Paris march in tribute to the victims of this week's Islamist attacks in France, a US official told AFP.
Ever since the bloody shooting that killed 12 people at satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo on Wednesday -- followed by separate attacks that left five more people dead -- Obama has made repeated declarations in support of America's "oldest ally."
But he will not join other leaders including British Prime Minister David Cameron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, all set to attend the march.
More than a million people were expected to go.
"I want the people of France to know that the United States stands with you today, stands with you tomorrow," Obama said Friday, following three days of bloodshed.
On Thursday, Obama wrote the Gallic slogan "Vive la France!" in a condolence book during a visit to the embassy in Washington.