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| Charlie Hebdo attacks: A complex network of dissidents stretches from Algeria to Finsbury Park | Charlie Hebdo attacks: A complex network of dissidents stretches from Algeria to Finsbury Park |
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| Links have begun to emerge between the Islamists involved in France’s two deadly sieges, pointing towards the chilling scenario of a well-planned jihad in the heart of Europe. | Links have begun to emerge between the Islamists involved in France’s two deadly sieges, pointing towards the chilling scenario of a well-planned jihad in the heart of Europe. |
| Amedy Coulibaly, who along with a woman accomplice took five hostages in a kosher bakery in Paris, was named by the police as the man who murdered a policewoman on Thursday. He was also linked to the Kouachi brothers who carried out the Charlie Hebdo murders through, among others, Djamel Beghal, a senior al-Qaeda member and convicted terrorist. | Amedy Coulibaly, who along with a woman accomplice took five hostages in a kosher bakery in Paris, was named by the police as the man who murdered a policewoman on Thursday. He was also linked to the Kouachi brothers who carried out the Charlie Hebdo murders through, among others, Djamel Beghal, a senior al-Qaeda member and convicted terrorist. |
| Intercepts on telephone calls by the French security service reportedly showed Coulibaly and the Kouachis had recently planned to visit Beghal in Murat, Cantal, where he is under house arrest, but turned back after fearing they would come under suspicion. Coulibaly is said to have met Cherif and Said Kouachi in 2004 and 2005 when they were part of the “Buttes Charmont” group which organised the travel of Muslims to Iraq to fight US forces. The group was dismantled by French intelligence but later reactivated. Their mentor was Faird Benyettou, who worked as a cleaner in a Paris mosque where, it is claimed, he met Coulibaly and Cherif Kouachi. | Intercepts on telephone calls by the French security service reportedly showed Coulibaly and the Kouachis had recently planned to visit Beghal in Murat, Cantal, where he is under house arrest, but turned back after fearing they would come under suspicion. Coulibaly is said to have met Cherif and Said Kouachi in 2004 and 2005 when they were part of the “Buttes Charmont” group which organised the travel of Muslims to Iraq to fight US forces. The group was dismantled by French intelligence but later reactivated. Their mentor was Faird Benyettou, who worked as a cleaner in a Paris mosque where, it is claimed, he met Coulibaly and Cherif Kouachi. |
| Coulibaly, 32, was jailed for five years over a plot with Beghal to free Smain Ait Al Belkacem, a former member of the Algerian Salafist GIA movement who was sentenced to life for a 1995 attack on a train in Orsay in which eight people died. Just before his arrest Coulibaly met Nicolas Sarkozy at a conference over disenfranchised young people arranged at the Élysée Palace. Afterwards Coulibaly said: “In truth he [Sarkozy] impressed me, whether you like him or not, he is the president.” | Coulibaly, 32, was jailed for five years over a plot with Beghal to free Smain Ait Al Belkacem, a former member of the Algerian Salafist GIA movement who was sentenced to life for a 1995 attack on a train in Orsay in which eight people died. Just before his arrest Coulibaly met Nicolas Sarkozy at a conference over disenfranchised young people arranged at the Élysée Palace. Afterwards Coulibaly said: “In truth he [Sarkozy] impressed me, whether you like him or not, he is the president.” |
| Coulibaly’s girlfriend, Hayat Boumedienne, 26, who carried out the attack on the grocery alongside him, had also met Beghal in the past, according to reports. | Coulibaly’s girlfriend, Hayat Boumedienne, 26, who carried out the attack on the grocery alongside him, had also met Beghal in the past, according to reports. |
| The attackers had been on intelligence services radar in America as well as France. The Kouachis were put on a US “no-fly list” of suspected terrorists. The CIA had told French intelligence that Said Kouachi had been to Yemen and almost certainly took part in training with al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). | The attackers had been on intelligence services radar in America as well as France. The Kouachis were put on a US “no-fly list” of suspected terrorists. The CIA had told French intelligence that Said Kouachi had been to Yemen and almost certainly took part in training with al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). |
| Questions are being asked about how the jihadists still managed to build an arsenal of automatic rifles and explosives, then carry out the deadliest terror attack in France in recent times. | Questions are being asked about how the jihadists still managed to build an arsenal of automatic rifles and explosives, then carry out the deadliest terror attack in France in recent times. |
| Djamel Beghal is said to have had huge influence on a close-knit group of disaffected young Muslims Beghal is said to have had huge influence over a close-knit group disaffected young Muslims. Raschid, 27, a former activist, described the Beghal as “charismatic, a very good speaker as well as a good listener. For young men who were confused and angry he provided answers. “ | Djamel Beghal is said to have had huge influence on a close-knit group of disaffected young Muslims Beghal is said to have had huge influence over a close-knit group disaffected young Muslims. Raschid, 27, a former activist, described the Beghal as “charismatic, a very good speaker as well as a good listener. For young men who were confused and angry he provided answers. “ |
| Beghal was suspected of recruiting shoe bomber Richard Reid and Zacarias Moussaoui, the “20th hijacker” in the 9/11 attacks. He had, at times taken the nom de guerre of Abu Hamza, the formerly London based cleric who was extradited to the US and convicted of 11 terror charges. He supposedly hero-worshipped Hamza and was frequently seen at the cleric’s Finsbury Park mosque in north London where he also met Abu Qatada, who was once described as Osama bin Laden’s emissary in Europe. | Beghal was suspected of recruiting shoe bomber Richard Reid and Zacarias Moussaoui, the “20th hijacker” in the 9/11 attacks. He had, at times taken the nom de guerre of Abu Hamza, the formerly London based cleric who was extradited to the US and convicted of 11 terror charges. He supposedly hero-worshipped Hamza and was frequently seen at the cleric’s Finsbury Park mosque in north London where he also met Abu Qatada, who was once described as Osama bin Laden’s emissary in Europe. |
| On return to France he was arrested over an alleged bomb plot and met Cherif Kouachi in jail after his 2008 conviction. The two men remained in contact after their release and were photographed in April 2010 in Cantal playing football with two other convicted terrorists, Ahmed Laibouni and Farid Melouk. | On return to France he was arrested over an alleged bomb plot and met Cherif Kouachi in jail after his 2008 conviction. The two men remained in contact after their release and were photographed in April 2010 in Cantal playing football with two other convicted terrorists, Ahmed Laibouni and Farid Melouk. |