Thursday, January 8, 2015

Manhunt continues for two French terror suspects



Manhunt continues for two French terror suspects

 http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2015/01/07/france-charlie-hebdo-satirical-publisher/21377861/






French President Francois Hollande announced Thursday would be a day of mourning in the wake of the attack on satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo that left at least 12 dead. Duration: 01:25 Video provided by AFP Newslook
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PARIS — Authorities identified three suspects in a deadly shooting attack on a satirical newspaper that killed 12 people Wednesday as thousands jammed a public square for an evening vigil honoring victims of France's deadliest terror attack in a half century.
Two of those killed were police officers, one of them shot dead on a sidewalk outside the newspaper. Eight journalists were among the victims.
The suspects are two brothers — Said, 34, and Cherif Kouachi, 32, both French nationals — and Hamyd Mourad, 18, whose nationality wasn't known, a Paris police official told the Associated Press. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly.
The youngest suspect surrendered at a police station in Charleville-Mezieres, a small town in France's eastern Champagne region, Paris prosecutor's spokeswoman Agnes Thibault-Lecuivre said. French police early Thursday released photos of the brothers they were seeking, saying they should be considered armed and dangerous.
French news media reported late Wednesday that a major police operation was taking place around an apartment building in Reims, about 90 miles northeast of Paris.
The brothers were born in Paris of Algerian descent. Cherif was sentenced to three years in prison on terrorism charges in May 2008. Both brothers returned from Syria this summer.

At least 15,000 gathered at the Place de la République for a vigil after the three gunmen, wearing hoods and armed with Kalashnikov automatic rifles, stormed the offices of Charlie Hebdo, shouting Islamic phrases and killing 12 people. The publication is a satirical newspaper that has caricatured the prophet Mohammed.
"They wanted to put France down on its knees, but we will show them solidarity and unity," Ilan Scialom, 30, vice president of COEXISTER, an interfaith group in Paris that promotes tolerance, said at the Paris rally. Thousands turned out for similar vigils in Lyon and elsewhere across Europe. Some held signs saying, "Not afraid."


USA TODAY's David Colton, Rem Rieder and Brian Gallagher discus the ramifications for the media following the attack on Charlie Hebdo the satirical weekly in Paris known for publishing controversial material. (USA NEWS, USA TODAY)
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the midday attack.
Eight journalists, a guest and two police officers were killed, said Paris prosecutor Francois Molins, giving a partial breakdown of the dead. Among those killed were Bernard Maris, an economist who contributed to the newspaper and was heard regularly on French radio, and cartoonists Georges Wolinski and Berbard Verlhac, better known as Tignous.
President Francois Hollande called the attack a terrorist act "of exceptional barbarism," and said other attacks have been thwarted in France in recent weeks. Fears have been running high in France and elsewhere in Europe that jihadis returning from conflicts in Syria and Iraq will stage attacks at home.
Cherif Kouachi was well known to French law enforcement. At 26, he was sentenced to three years in prison with 18 months suspended for criminal association with a terrorist enterprise for his conviction in 2008 as part of a group of seven men.
Prosecutors said the group recruited French Muslims to fight for al-Qaeda in Iraq. The group, known as the 19th Arrondissement Network for the working class Paris district where it was based, allegedly recruited young men, arranged for weapons training and helped them travel though Syria to Iraq. Police arrested Kouachi in January 2005, days before he allegedly planned to travel to Syria.
The rampage began around noon when the suspects killed a receptionist to gain entrance to the offices in central Paris, then opened fire on a second-floor editorial meeting, killing 10 people, Molins said. The officers were killed during the suspects' getaway, he said.
Eleven others were injured, including four who were listed in serious condition.

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