Paris jihadists believed to have met night before attacks

Investigators say Cherif Kouachi, Coulibaly were in direct contact preceding three-day terror spree

By AFP 17 February 2015, 6:15 pm

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The three French gunmen who carried out a series of deadly attacks in Paris starting on January 7, 2015, killing 12 people at the Charlie Hebdo offices and ending with two separate sieges in and around Paris on January 9 that killed four hostages. (Photo credit: French police handouts)

PARIS, France — French investigators believe they have established that the jihadists who struck Paris last month were in direct contact before the attacks, a security source said on Tuesday.

Phone records appear to show that Cherif Kouachi and Amedy Coulibaly met the night before they started three days of violence in and around Paris on January 7.

They are thought to have met in Gennevilliers, the town near Paris where Kouachi lived, a security source told AFP, confirming a report in Le Monde newspaper.

Around one hour before Cherif Kouachi attacked Charlie Hebdo magazine with his brother Said, a text message was sent from near his home to one of the 13 phone numbers belonging to Coulibaly, the security source said.

Coulibaly shot a policewoman the next day and went on to kill four people after taking hostages at a Jewish supermarket on January 9.

All three attackers were killed by police.

Coulibaly claimed in a posthumous video that he had coordinated his attacks with the Kouachi brothers, but it has not been clear to what extent they directly planned together.