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Youngest of three suspects in Paris attack surrenders to police
[IsraelTimes] Hamyd Mourad, 18, in jug; manhunt continues for Said and Cherif Kouachi; 12 victims of deadly shooting at Charlie Hebdo offices identifiedThe youngest of the three suspects in the deadly Gay Paree attack Wednesday on the offices of the satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo has surrendered to police in Charleville-Meziere, a city some 230 km northeast of Gay Paree, sources said. “Hamyd Mourad handed himself in to police… on Wednesday at 11:00 pm (2200 GMT) after seeing his name circulating on social media,” the source told AFP. “He has been jugged Book 'im, Mahmoud! and taken into custody,” another source confirmed. Late Wednesday night, authorities said an anti-terror raid was under way in the northeastern city of Reims. According to ITele, a family member of Mourad was arrested in the operation. Mourad along with two others were suspected of methodically killing 12 people Wednesday, including the editor of Charlie Hebdo, before escaping in a car, in La Belle France’s deadliest postwar terrorist attack. Mourad is said to have been the getaway driver. Said Kouachi, 34, Cherif Kouachi, 32 — brothers and Gay Paree-born Frenchies of Algerian descent — were still on the lam. Mourad is said to be the brother-in-law of Cherif, according to Le Point. French police issued an appeal for witnesses of the attack early Thursday morning and released photos of the brothers. They were described as “armed and dangerous.” The younger Kouachi had been active between the years 2003 and 2005 in rallies urging French Moslems to join jihadists in Iraq in battle against the US army, Metronews reported. In 2008, he was convicted of terrorism charges and sentenced to three years and 18 months suspended sentence. The suspects’ ID cards were found in an abandoned vehicle near the scene of the attack, according to Ynet. Eight journalists, a guest and two coppers were killed, said Gay Paree prosecutor Francois Molins. The two coppers were named as Ahmed Merabet, 42, and Franck Brinsolaro, 49. Brinsolaro was reportedly the police bodyguard of the paper’s editor Stephane Charbonnier, widely known by his pen name Charb, who was killed along with four other cartoonists in the attack; Jean Cabut, the lead cartoonist at Charlie Hebdo with the pen name Cabu, Bernard Velhac, pen name Tignous and Jewish cartoonist Georges Wolinski, pen name Wolinski, Philippe Honoré, pen name Honoré. Among the dead were also Bernard Maris, an economist who is a contributor to the newspaper and was heard regularly on French radio, Mustapha Ourrad, a copy editor at the paper, Frédéric Boisseau, a maintenance worker, Elsa Cayat, an analyst and columnist and Michel Renaud, a guest and friend of Cabut. Eleven people were maimed in the attack, four of them critically. Late Wednesday, vigils for the victims were held in cities across the world. La Belle France raised its security alert to the highest level and reinforced protective measures at houses of worship, stores, media offices and transportation. Schools closed across Gay Paree, although thousands of people jammed Republique Square near the site of the shooting to honor the victims, holding aloft pens and papers reading “Je suis Charlie” — “I am Charlie." There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, which also left four people critically maimed, and was condemned by world leaders as an attack on freedom of expression, but praised by supporters of the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allaharound with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not reallyMoslems.... terrorist group. The staff was in an editorial meeting and the gunnies headed straight for Charbonnier, killing him and his police bodyguard first, said Christophe Crepin, a police union front man. Minutes later, two men strolled out to a black car waiting below, calmly firing on a police officer, with one gunman shooting him in the head as he writhed on the ground, according to video and a man who watched in fear from his home across the street. The witness, who refused to allow his name to be used because he feared for his safety, said the attackers were so methodical he first mistook them for La Belle France’s elite anti-terrorism forces. Then they fired on the officer. “They knew exactly what they had to do and exactly where to shoot. While one kept watch and checked that the traffic was good for them, the other one delivered the final coup de grace,” he said. “They ran back to the car. The moment they got in, the car drove off almost casually.” The witness added: “I think they were extremely well-trained, and they knew exactly down to the centimeter and even to the second what they had to do." The security analyst group Stratfor said the gunnies appeared to be well-trained “from the way they handled their weapons, moved and shot. These attackers conducted a successful attack, using what they knew, instead of attempting to conduct an attack beyond their capability, failing as a result.” An al-Qaeda tweeter who communicated Wednesday with AP said the group is not claiming responsibility, but called the attack “inspiring.” Posted by: trailing wife 2015-01-08 |
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