German Muslims call for peace rally

Germany's Central Council of Muslims will hold a peace rally in front of the Austrian Embassy in Berlin this Friday, the council announced.

The top Islamic body called the rally after a number of deadly terror attacks with Islamist motives shook France and Austriain recent weeks.

The event is set to begin at 3 p.m. local time (2 p.m. UTC).

An interreligious group prayer session is planned. Attendees will also be able to lay flowers and light candles to commemorate loved ones.

Who will be at the rally?

The chairman of the Central Council, Aiman Mazyek, is set to give a short speech.

The Protestant Bishop for Berlin, Christian Stäblein, and the Archbishop of the Catholic Church in Berlin, Heiner Koch are set to attend alongside Chairman of the General Rabbinical Conference Germany, Rabbi Andreas Nachama.

They will remember the victims and express their condolences to families.

Austrian ambassador Peter Huber will also be at the event that will take place under the current coronavirus regulations.

A series of terror attacks

On Monday, an Austrian-born man shot and killed four people in a popular nightlife area of central Vienna. At least 22 others were injured in the attack. The attacker was a known Islamic extremist who had spent time in prison, according to authorities.

Last week, an armed man carried out an attack at Notre Dame Basilica in the city of Nice in France, killing three people.

In mid-October, French teacher Samuel Paty was beheaded near his school in Paris by an 18-year-old man for showing cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad in class.