US Secretary of State John Kerry has arrived in France "to share a big hug for Paris" hours after funerals were held for five of the 17 people killed in last week's jihadist attacks.
Seeking to put behind a furore over the absence of a senior US official at a mass Paris rally in the wake of the shootings, Kerry touched down just as an anti-terrorism operation was underway in neighbouring Belgium, leaving two suspects dead.
Belgian investigators said earlier yesterday they were probing whether an arms dealer sold weapons used in the Paris attacks, but there was no immediate confirmation of any link between the investigation and the raid.
In France, Kerry will hold talks with President Francois Hollande today and will make a speech -- some of it in French -- at city hall before giving way to US singer James Taylor of "You've Got a Friend" fame.
"My visit to France is basically to share a big hug for Paris and express the affection of the American people for France and for our friends there who have been through a terrible time," he said in Bulgaria ahead of his Paris trip.
The visit comes after the White House was forced to admit it had made a mistake in not sending a higher-ranking representative than US ambassador Jane Hartley to the weekend march against extremism, which was attended by dozens of world leaders.
Meanwhile, poignant ceremonies took place in memory of some of those killed in last week's attacks on Charlie Hebdo magazine and at a Jewish supermarket -- the bloodiest in France in half a century.
The five buried included two of the weekly's best-known cartoonists and Franck Brinsolaro, 49, a police officer who was killed at the satirical magazine's editorial meeting, where he'd been standing guard.
Georges Wolinski, 80, and Bernard "Tignous" Verlhac, 57, who were gunned down by two Islamist brothers in the attack claimed by Al-Qaeda, were buried at private family funerals.
Thousands braved drizzle outside the town hall memorial service for Tignous, laying flowers under a huge portrait of the cartoonist as his wife Chloe paid tribute inside.
His cartoon-covered coffin was carried through an applauding crowd for final burial, as people held aloft banners reading "Thank you Charlie Hebdo" and "Our heroes."
"It would really annoy you to see us here today with our long faces. We shouldn't be sad, but proud to have known you," said Coco, a fellow Charlie Hebdo cartoonist.
The attack on the magazine by the Kouachi brothers left 12 people dead, and another gunman called Amedy Coulibaly subsequently killed a policewoman and four Jews in a supermarket. All three gunmen were also killed.
