Four held over links to Paris attacker

France has arrested four people believed to have been friends with Amedy Coulibaly, who killed five people during the January 7-9 Paris attacks.

Slain hostage-taker Amedy Coulibaly

Ahmedy Coulibaly (AAP)

Four people have been detained over their connections to one of the jihadists who carried out the Paris attacks in January, a judicial source says.

The four are said to be friends with Amedy Coulibaly, who killed four people at a Jewish supermarket and a policewoman during the January 7-9 attacks.

Europe 1 radio reported on Monday that one of those detained was a policewoman posted at Rosny-sous-Bois just outside Paris who converted to Islam two years ago. She was suspended from her duties in early February.

She was detained along with her boyfriend, a man said to have been close to Coulibaly and who is also wanted on separate drug charges.

Phone records indicate he was in close proximity to Coulibaly shortly before the attack on the supermarket.

Le Canard Enchaine, a weekly paper, said the man may have had access to his girlfriend's police barracks at Rosny.

No details have yet been released on the other two people detained.

Four other people were held for questioning at the end of January, suspected of providing arms and vehicles to Coulibaly.

Others - including Coulibaly's girlfriend Hayat Boumeddiene - are thought to have fled to Syria.

Two people have also been charged over their links to the Kouachi brothers who carried out the shootings at the Charlie Hebdo magazine in the same week, leaving 12 dead.

Fritz-Joly Joachin was arrested in Bulgaria and Cheikhou Diakhaby was detained in Turkey - both believed to be on route to Syria, and extradited back to France.


Share

2 min read

Published

Updated

Source: AAP



Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world