Antoine Leiris' message to ISIS after wife was killed in the Paris attacks

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Antoine Leiris wrote an open letter to terrorist who gunned down his wife
Hélène Muyal-Leiris was killed during the Bataclan massacre on Friday
Mr Leiris said the gunmen had 'stolen' the life of an 'exceptional person'
His wife was first reported missing through online social media campaign

Published: 11:51 EST, 17 November 2015 | Updated: 15:40 EST, 17 November 2015

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A husband who lost his wife in the Bataclan terror attack has published an open letter to her killers vowing not to dignify the bloodbath with his hatred.

Antoine Leiris, directly addressed the terror gang who gunned down his wife Hélène Muyal-Leiris, a 30-something make-up artist from Paris, during the concert last Friday.

In the post, published openly on Facebook, he told of how the gunmen had ‘stolen’ the life of an ‘exceptional person’ and paid tribute to the ‘love of his life’.

Antoine Leiris (left), directly addressed the terror gang who gunned down his wife Hélène Muyal-Leiris right), a 30-something make-up artist from Paris, during the concert last Friday

Mr Leiris, understood to be a radio journalist, told of how his 17-month-old son, Melvil, had also been robbed of his mother.

Mrs Muyal-Leiris was first reported missing through an online social media campaign to find those who had been inside the Bataclan at the Eagles of Death Metal gig.

But on Saturday night a relative of Mrs Muyal-Leiris took to Twitter to confirm that she had died.

Describing the gang, now known to consist of terrorists Omar Mostefai, 29, and Samy Amimour, 28, who both fled to Syria before returning to murder 89 concertgoers, Mr Leiris wrote: ‘I don’t know who you are and I don’t want to know, you are dead souls.’

He added: ‘If this God for whom you are killing blindly made us out of his image, every bullet in my wife’s body would have been a wound to his heart.’

YOU STOLE THE LOVE OF MY LIFE: FULL TRANSCRIPT OF HUSBAND'S LETTER

On Friday night you stole the life of an exceptional being, the love of my life, the mother of my son, but you won't have my hatred.

I don't know who you are and I don't want to know - you are dead souls. If this God for which you kill indiscriminately made us in his own image, every bullet in the body of my wife will have been a wound in his heart.

So no, I don't give you the gift of hating you. You are asking for it but responding to hatred with anger would be giving in to the same ignorance that made you what you are.

You want me to be afraid, to view my fellow countrymen with mistrust, to sacrifice my freedom for security.You have lost.

I saw her this morning. Finally, after many nights and days of waiting. She was just as beautiful as when she left on Friday night, just as beautiful as when I fell hopelessly in love over 12 years ago.

Of course I'm devastated with grief, I admit this small victory, but it will be short-lived. I know she will accompany us every day and that we will find ourselves in this paradise of free souls to which you'll never have access.

We are two, my son and I, but we are stronger than all the armies of the world.

I don't have any more time to devote to you, I have to join Melvil who is waking up from his nap. He is barely 17-months-old. He will eat his meals as usual, and then we are going to play as usual, and for his whole life this little boy will threaten you by being happy and free. Because no, you will not have his hatred either.

Mr Leiris said he would not give the fanatics the ‘gift’ of hatred despite the fact that they had ‘come looking for it’.

He added: ‘You want me to be scared, for me to look at my fellow citizens with mistrust, for me to sacrifice my freedom for safety, you have lost. The same player plays on.’

The letter has been shared across the globe more than 100,000 times on Facebook and dozens of tributes have been left by friends of the family.

One wrote: ‘I have no words. My whole heart goes out to you.’

In the heartbreaking note, Mr Leiris told of how he fell in love with his wife 12 years ago and described saying goodbye to her on Friday night.

Of the moment he saw her lifeless body, he said she looked ‘as beautiful’ as when they first met.

Aid: French special forces evacuate people, including an injured man, as people gather near the Bataclan concert hall on Friday night

Prayers: Women mourn at a candlelit and floral memorial to the victims at the Place de Republique terror attacks in Paris

Grief: a huge crowd stop outside Sorbonne University to observe a minute-silence in memory of the victims of the Paris terror attacks

He added: ‘Of course I am overwhelmed with sadness, I will give you that, but it will be short lived.’

Mr Leiris said he would carry on as normal for the sake of his son and said that united they were stronger than ‘all the armies in the world’.

As if ending a conversation, Mr Leiris finished the note with: ‘In fact, I don’t have any more time to give you, I have to join Melvil who is waking up from his nap.

‘He is barely 17 months old. He is going to have his afternoon snack like every other day and throughout his life he will insult you by being happy and free.

‘Because no, you will not have his hatred either.’

PARIS MASSACRE: WHAT WE KNOW SO FAR ABOUT THE DEADLIEST TERROR ATTACK TO HIT EUROPE IN A DECADE

At least 129 people are dead, and another 352 injured, after three teams of jihadis struck the Stade de France football stadium, a handful of bars and cafes, and then finally the Bataclan concert hall.

FIRST TWO ATTACKS: STADE DE FRANCE

The attacks began at 9.20pm at the Stade de France where the French football team was hosting Germany in an international friendly.
The game was being watched by 80,000 spectators, among them was President Francois Hollande who had to be evacuated from the stadium.
Ahmed Almohammad, 25, from Syria approached the stadium with a match ticket. He was turned away from Gate D after being frisked by a security guard.
He backed away from the gate and detonated his vest, killing one other person. A passport was found near his body.
A second suicide bomber, Bilal Hadfi, 20, blew himself up near Gate H at 9.30pm. No one else was reported killed. Hadfi is said to have fought with ISIS in Syria.

THIRD ATTACK: LE PETIT CAMBODGE AND LE CARILLON BAR

At 9.25pm a separate team of gunmen arrived in a Black Seat and attacked diners at popular Cambodian restaurant Le Petit Cambodge and Le Carillon bar in the trendy Canal Saint-Martin area of eastern Paris, killing 15. The gunmen were using Kalashnikov AK-47 assault rifles.

Timeline of events: Eight terrorists carried out the devastating attacks on Friday night, leaving 129 people dead and another 352 injured

FOURTH ATTACK: LA CASA NOSTRA PIZZERIA AND LA BELLE EQUIPE BAR

The same unit then drove about 500 yards to La Casa Nostra pizzeria and opened fire on diners on the terrace of the restaurant, killing at least five people.
From there, the militants drove around a mile south-east – apparently past the area of the Bataclan concert venue – to launch another attack, this time on La Belle Equipe bar in Rue de Charonne. At least 19 people died after the terrace was sprayed with bullets at 9.36pm The attackers then drove off.

FIFTH ATTACK: CAFÉ 'COMPTOIR VOLTAIRE'

At 9.40pm, Ibrahim Abdeslam, also known as Brahim, 31, set off a suicide vest inside cafe 'Comptoir Voltaire' on the Boulevard Voltaire and close to the Bataclan theatre. He hired a black Seat car used in the attack, which was found later abandoned with three assault rifles, along with five full magazines. The killers had emptied 11 magazines, firing an estimated 330 rounds.

SIXTH ATTACK: BATACLAN MUSIC HALL

At 9.40pm, the third group (believed to be three men and a woman) armed with AK-47s stormed the Bataclan music hall and began shooting members of the crowd. Survivors claim three blew themselves up and a fourth person was shot dead by police before they could detonate their bomb.

SEVENTH ATTACK: NEAR STADE DE FRANCE

At around 10.15pm a third blast took place near the Stade de France, this time by a McDonald's restaurant on the fringes of the stadium. The boom caused terror among spectators who had already been attempting to flee the stadium following the first two explosions. The attacker who detonated his suicide vest was identified as a 20-year-old French man living in Belgium.

Tearful members of the public view flowers and tributes on the pavement near the scene of the concert hall massacre on Friday

AFTERMATH:

On Saturday morning, ISIS claimed responsibility for the attacks across Paris, saying 'eight brothers wearing explosive belts and carrying assault rifles' conducted a 'blessed attack on... Crusader France'.
On Saturday morning, the world's most wanted man, Salah Abdeslam is stopped by French police along with two other men as he approached the Belgian border. He is released after he shows his ID and returns to the Jihadi hotspot of Molenbeek in Brussels where he vanishes.
Belgian police launch several anti-terror raids after Abdeslam was identified as having rented a VW Polo used by the Bataclan killers which was found abandoned nearby.
One of the Stade de France suspects was found carrying a Syrian passport under the name Ahmed Almohammad who travelled to France as a migrant through Greece on October 3. Ferry tickets reveal he travelled with another man named as Mohammed Almuhamed.
However, the French minister of justice Christiane Taubira said on Sunday that the passport under the name Ahmed Almohammad was a fake.
Omar Ismaël Mostefai, 29, from Courcouronnes, Paris was also named as a Bataclan suicide bomber. The petty criminal and father-of-one was known to police as a radical and had travelled to Algeria and Syria. He was identified by the fingerprint on a severed digit found after he detonated his suicide belt.
Mostefai is believed to have been radicalised by a Belgian hate preacher of Moroccan descent claimed to have regularly preached at his mosque in South West France. His father, a brother and other family members have been held and are being questioned.
The black Seat Leon used by the terrorists who murdered diners outside the Casa Nostra pizza restaurant and the La Belle Équipe cafe was found abandoned 20 minutes away in Montreuil with three AK-47s and 16 magazines - 11 of them empty.
Seven people were detained in Belgium linked to the atrocities. Five are from the Molenbeek area of Brussels known as a 'den of terrorists'.
Five of those arrested, including Salah and Ibrahim Abdeslams' brother Mohamed have been released without charge. Two others have been charged with unspecified terrorist offences.
Iraqi spies warned the West of an ISIS suicide bomber threat the day before the Paris atrocities, it was revealed on Sunday, as more details of major intelligence failures began to emerge. The US-led coalition in Syria was apparently told by Iraqi security sources that 24 extremists were involved in the terror operation planned in the ISIS capital Raqqa and it would involve 19 attackers including five others including bombmakers and planners. No detail was given of when or where an attack might take place.
It has also emerged that Turkey's authorities foiled a plot to stage a 'Jihadi John revenge attack' in Istanbul - involving a high-profile British jihadist - on the same day as the deadly massacre in Paris.
From as far back as August, France's authorities possessed information that militants were said to be planning attacks on French concert halls after a tip-off was received from a 30-year-old man who was detained on his way back from Syria.
On Sunday night there were 42 people still said to be in intensive care in hospital following Friday's terrorist attacks.

Thousands lined the streets of Paris on Monday for a minute's silence to remember those killed in a wave of attacks on the city on Friday

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS:

French and Belgian police are still hunting for three gunmen on the run, including Abdeslam, and an ISIS bombmaker likely to have made the suicide vests.
An international arrest warrant has been issued for Abdeslam, 26, who is accused of renting a Volkswagen Polo used by the suicide bombers.
It emerged on Sunday night that police found Abdeslam near the Belgian border early Saturday but let him go after he showed them his ID card. Officers pulled over the car being driven by Abdeslam on Saturday morning on the A2 motorway between Paris and Brussels. Two other men were also in the car.
At the time, officers in Paris knew that Abdeslam had rented the car used by the killers which had been abandoned near the theatre but the information had not been transmitted to those responsible for conducting the border checks.
On Sunday evening the French defence ministry announced that the country's warplanes had bombed Islamic State's stronghold in Syria's Raqa, destroying a command post and a training camp. Ten fighter jets were involved, dropping 20 bombs.
French and Belgian police conducted 168 pre-dawn anti-terror raids on Monday, including a botched attempt to capture Abdeslam, who is still on the run. The raids took place at addresses in Brussels, Toulouse, Lyon, Grenoble, Calais and two suburbs of Paris. A rocket launcher, flak jackets, several pistols and a Kalashnikov assault rifle were among the cache of weapons seized in Lyon overnight.
French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said 104 people had been placed under house arrest, while 23 suspects were detained for questioning.
The mastermind behind the Paris terror attacks is named as one of ISIS' top executioners, Abdelhamid Abaaoud, 27, who even recruited his 13-year-old brother to fight with him in Syria.
ISIS issue a chilling new video warning that countries taking part in air strikes against Syria will suffer the same fate as Paris and claimed they will attack Washington D.C. next.
French police have discovered a safe house used by the terror gang in the Bobigny suburb of Paris rented three days before the attack.
The Royal Air Force has stuck ISIS targets in northern Iraq as the French continue their air strikes against the Jihadi stronghold of Raqqa, Syria.