Kouachi brothers’ ex-mentor condemns attack

The one-time mentor of the Kouachi brothers, the terrorists behind the Charlie Hebdo massacre last week, says one of the brothers came to consult him recently and he expressed his disdain from acts of violence.

“Two months ago, Cherif came to me unexpectedly. With him, it was always the same subject of conversation. He always wanted to discuss the struggle with me. Good relations with his neighbors, how a good Muslim must conduct himself, he didn’t know all that. He also wanted to speak to me about the Merah affair, I told him I was against. It seemed like he accepted the criticism. Nothing could predict such acts,” Farid Benyettou, who has in the past been jailed for terrorist related offenses, told a French TV station.

Benyettou, training nowadays as a nurse, said he was “living proof” that France was not oppressing Muslims. “I have a criminal record difficult to understand. I was convicted for terrorism, it’s one of the worst cases. And despite this I was never discriminated against, on the contrary, people helped me. People continue to believe in me.”