Charlie Hebdo suspect Cherif Kouachi linked

to network of French militantsMan who led deadly attack on the satirical magazine had links to disorganised web of

extremists for more than 10 years

Cherif Kouachi had been jailed for his role in a network sending volunteers to fight alongside al-aida militantsin !ra"# $hotogra%h& '$Jason Burke-Thursday 8 January 20!(he %rime sus%ect in the attack on satirical magazine Charlie )ebdo was an activemember of a loose network of *rench militants+ active for over two decades+ thatstretched from ,yria to the K#

Cherif Kouachi+ ./+ hadbeen im%risoned for 1 months for his role in a network sending volunteers to fightalongside al-aida militants in !ra" between /00. and /00 and had beeninvestigated for his involvement in a %lan to break a veteran extremist out of %rison in/010#

(he news of his %revious record as an active extremist known to authorities will raisedifficult "uestions for the *rench security services#

 's Kouachi was being hunted along with his older brother+ .2-year-old ,aid+ by *rench

 

%olice on (hursday night+ the %icture of his links to a disorganised web of extremistsbecame clearer#

!ndividuals linked to the network are currently active in ,yria and 3ibya# ' jailed militantdescribed by 3e Monde news%a%er  as Kouachi4s mentor was a key extremistorganiser in the K in the late 1550s and was connected to 'bu atada+ the 3ondon-based radical %reacher de%orted after a long legal struggle to 6ordan in /01.# 7thersare s%read out across *rance# 8o evidence has yet emerged of any connection to anyoverseas organisation+ although the involvement of al-aida and its affiliate+ al-aidain the 'rabian $eninsula+ based in 9emen+ have been suggested+ along with !slamic,tate :!sis;#*rench intelligence services are understood to have told their K counter%arts thattheir investigation has found nothing indicating any connection with any of these+ orany other+ grou%s#

!nvestigators believe the wea%ons used in the assault may have been obtained fromgangsters+ %ossibly through connections made in %rison#Manuel <alls+ the *rench%rime minister+ told *rench media =there is never zero risk>+ adding& =(he %olice and judicial services have dismantled numerous grou%s and blocked bomb %lots# (hat4s%roof that we are acting# )undreds of %eo%le are followed+ dozens have been"uestioned+ dozens have been jailed# (hat shows the difficulties facing our services&the number of individuals who %ose a threat+> he said#*rench %olice and intelligence services were heavily criticised in /01/ after a /.-year-old *rench Muslim who had recently returned from $akistan and 'fghanistan went ona 10-day shooting s%ree+ killing seven %eo%le# Kouachi+ with a record of at least adecade of involvement in militant grou%s+ would seem to have been an obvious targetfor surveillance#

 'n or%han of %arents of 'lgerian origin living in the west of *rance+ Kouachi grew u% in$aris+ earning a technical "ualification as a s%orts instructor# !n about /00.+ hebecame involved in a notorious grou% known as the ?uttes-Chaumont network+ namedafter the %ark in north-east $aris where members met and undertook %hysical training#

!nvestigators say the network funnelled about a dozen *rench fighters to cam%s linkedto an al-aida affiliate in !ra"# (hree of the grou%4s members were killed in action+several more were ca%tured there and three+ including Kouachi+ were arrested in*rance before leaving#

(he network was broken u% by *rench authorities in /00 and the %reacher accusedof being its ringleader sentenced to six years in %rison#

Kouachi+ who had been working as a %izza delivery driver+ told the court during thetrial in /00 that he had been motivated to travel to !ra" by images of atrocitiescommitted by , troo%s in 'bu @hraib %rison on the outskirts of ?aghdad# Aadicalsermons by the grou%4s leader+ a self-taught %reacher+ convinced him that violent=jihad> and suicide was an obligation according to Muslim holy texts#

 

3awyers for Kouachi told the trial he was not an observant Muslim and had =smokedhash+ drunk and had a girlfriend> before becoming involved with the ?uttes-Chaumontgrou%# 7ther members had been habitual %etty criminals+ the news%a%er 3ibBrationre%orted at the time# =?efore ! was a delin"uent# ?ut after ! felt great# ! didn4t evenimagine that ! could die+> Kouachi told the court#

(he former as%irant ra%%er was not a %articularly enthusiastic warrior+ however+ and asthe date to leave for !ra" via ,yria a%%roached+ his concerns grew+ he said#

Kouachi nonetheless ran with the other members of the grou% to get fit for combat+was given a brief account of how to handle a Kalashnikov assault rifle by a man hemet in a mos"ue+ and had bought a ticket to travel when he was arrested#

 'fter serving 1 months of a three-year %rison sentence+ he was released and workedon the fish counter of a su%ermarket in the $arisian suburb of Conflans-,ainte-)onorine#

!n /00+ he married a devout Muslim woman who ran activities for toddlers in acreche# (he cou%le lived in @ennevilliers+ in the )auts-de-,eine de%artment#

)owever+ his involvement in radical !slamic activism was not over and he remained intouch with other members of the ?uttes-Chaumont gang#

 'ccording to 3e Monde+ Kouachi was %laced under surveillance in /010 wheninvestigators discovered a %lan to break out of %rison the man who masterminded abombing at a train station in $aris in 155+ which injured .0 %eo%le#

Kouachi was held for three months under strict *rench anti-terror laws before beingfreed for lack of evidence# !nvestigators believed his brother+ ,aid+ was also involvedin the %lot and said the network %lanning the breakout was led by jamal ?eghal+ thementor Kouachi had met when jailed %reviously#

?eghal+ a *rench-'lgerian who had lived in 3eicester and 3ondon in the late 1550s+was detained in /001 while returning from 'fghanistan to *rance# !nterrogationdocuments from the time reveal that he told investigators in the nited 'rab Dmiratesthat 7sama bin 3aden4s %ersonal secretary had given him the orders to bomb the ,embassy in $aris# )e later said he had been tortured#

?eghal+ who was in close contact with radical cleric 'bu atada+ was jailed for 10years# !n %rison+ he became a mentor to Kouachi+ according to media re%orts in*rance# (he two remained in contact& after ?eghal4s release into a form of housearrest in /010+ the %air met and allegedly discussed the breakout %lan# ,ecurityservices moved in+ but although they sus%ected Kouachi4s role they were unable to%rovide sufficient evidence to su%%ort charges against him#

Kouachi is also thought to have maintained links with former members of the ?uttes-Chaumont grou%# 7ne member+ ?oubakeur el-)akim+ recently surfaced in(unisia+ where he is believed to have killed a local %olitician# 7thers fought in !ra"

 

alongside ,alim ?enghalem+ who isdescribed by the , government as a =,yria-based *rench extremist and E!slamic ,tateF member who carries out executions onbehalf of the grou%>#?enghalem was also in touch with another member of the ?uttes-Chaumontgrou% involved in the breakout %lot#(his web of associations+ ty%ical of contem%orary militant activism+ com%licates thetask of investigators looking to establish the origins of the attack on Charlie )ebdo#

“!t is im%ossible that an o%eration on the scale of the one that led to the massacre atCharlie )ebdo was not s%onsored by aesh Ean alternative name for !sisF+> said 6ean-$ierre *iliu+ an ex%ert on radical !slam at $aris4s ,ciences $o university#

)owever+ ex%erts are s%lit over the degree of %rofessionalism shown by Gednesday4sattackers# ,ome of their tactics indicated a familiarity with wea%ons+ but they wereunclear of the exact address of the magazine they were targeting and unfamiliar withits security systems# 'l-aida and its affiliates have always stressed thorough %riorreconnaissance of targets when training individuals#

More likely is a scenario involving a small number of %rinci%al actors H %ossibly onlyKouachi and his brother H who were su%%orted by the broader network built u% overdecades to execute a %lan they had envisaged for almost as long#

 ' third sus%ect in the attack+ 1-year-old )amyd Mourad+ surrendered to %olice in thenorthern town of Charleville-MBziIres on Gednesday#

"osted by Tha#am