Jihadist tied to Charlie Hebdo attack handed over to France for trial
Peter Cherif, also known as Abu Hamza, was a prominent member of al-Qaeda who fled France in 2011 and has been designated a terrorist by the US government
The French jihadist Peter Cherif, arrested in Djibouti on December 16, was placed in custody when he arrived in France on Sunday morning, Interior Minister Christophe Castaner and the Paris Public Prosecutor’s Office announced.
Cherif, also known as Abu Hamza, is believed by investigators to have been close to brothers Said and Cherif Kouachi, perpetrators of the attack against the Charlie Hebdo satirical newspaper in January 2015 that left 11 people dead.
After the attack, Cherif “fled French justice,” but must now “answer for his actions,” Castaner tweeted, praising the “effectiveness” of France’s security services.
The 36-year-old Frenchman was arrested in Djibouti on December 16. According to the Djibouti presidency, he arrived in the country by sea via the coastal town of Obock from Yemen and was carrying false identity documents.
He was quickly handed to France, boarding an Air France flight for Paris on Saturday at around 10:20 p.m. handcuffed in the back of the plane and under police escort, according to an AFP photographer.
“Peter Cherif was arrested at [Paris’s Roissy Airport] and taken into custody as part of a preliminary investigation opened by the Paris prosecutor’s office in May 2017” on charges of terrorism and criminal conspiracy, Paris’s counterterrorism prosecutors said Sunday.
The investigation of Cherif is being carried out by France’s General Directorate of Internal Security (DGSI). Under French law, Cherif can be held on the terror charges for up to 96 hours before he must be brought before a judge to have his remand extended.
According to officials, Cherif was an al-Qaeda operative in Yemen and was a close friend of the Kouachi brothers. He is suspected of providing logistical support to the terrorists, and helping to organize the attack.
Arrested for the first time in Fallujah, Iraq, in late 2004 while fighting in the ranks of al-Qaeda in Iraq, Cherif was sentenced to 15 years in prison in Baghdad, then escaped from an Iraqi prison in March 2007 and fled to Syria.
Later extradited to France, he was incarcerated there for 18 months. He disappeared in March 2011, the last day of his trial in Paris, when he fled to Yemen. He has been designated by both French and US authorities as a terrorist.
