The Paris Suspects are named by SecurityNewsDesk through information provided by GlobalRiskAwareness. The following reports are unconfirmed at this stage.
Suspects are named as Frenchmen Said Kouachi and Cherif Kouachi, in their early 30s, as well as 18 year old Hamyd Mourad, whose nationality wasn’t immediately clear.
As far as Global Risk Awareness are concerned they are linked to a Yemeni terrorist network.
Cherif was convicted in 2008 of terrorism charges for helping funnel fighters to Iraq’s insurgency and sentenced to 18 months in prison.
Issue 10 of #AQAP ‘s #Inspire named #CharlieHebdo editor Stéphane Charbonnier as a target for “crimes against Islam”.
It is believed that Said and Cherif are brothers and born in the 10th arrondissement neighborhood in Paris. The Kouachi brothers were orphaned by their Algerian-immigrant parents as children
Said is reported to be 34 years of age. He is a French citizen and we believe that the police linked the three suspects to the crime after Said Kouachi left his passport in the getaway car. Witnesses said that one of the attackers at the scene told onlookers, “You can tell the media that it’s al Qaeda in Yemen.”
Cherif was not a devout Muslim, open source reports suggest he had girlfriends, smoked and drank alcohol and he was linked to AQI (Al Qaeda in Iraq).
In 2008 Cherif Kouachi had been sentenced to three years in prison in Paris for helping to funnel prospective jihadi fighters from France to Iraq. He served 18 months, another 18 months of his sentence was suspended.
Cherif was named in that case as a member of the 19th arrondissement network, an organization of the North African neighborhood where they were based. The New York Times first reported on Cherif in 2005. It was reported that he had become inspired to fight in jihad due to the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuses
While Cherif is an experienced jihadi, Hamyd Mourad is reported to be just 18 years old. We have reasons to believe he was a student at a high school in Charleville-Mezieres, outside the city of Reims.
The current investigation Has Moved to the City of Reims.
Our previous reporting is available here
