Hayat Boumeddiene, 26, is wanted in connection with the shooting of a French policewoman. (Photo: Direction Centrale de la Police Judici...
The female terror suspect on the run in Paris exchanged hundreds of phone calls with the wife of one of the gunmen suspected in the shootings at a French satirical newspaper this week.
Hayat Boumeddiene, 26, the widow of slain gunman Amedy Coulibaly, exchanged 500 phone calls in 2014 with the wife of Cherif Kouachi, Paris prosecutor Francois Molins said Friday.
Authorities are digging for more information about the calls and consider Boumeddiene an "important witness" who must be questioned, said Christophe Crepin, spokesman for the UNSA police union.
"She has had a relationship with an individual whose ideology has been expressed in violence, and by the execution of poor people who were just doing their shopping in a supermarket," Crepin said. In the eyes of French officials, "she is a dangerous woman," he said.
Heavily armed police mounted simultaneous attacks on two hostage standoffs Friday, killing Cherif Kouachi, 32, and his brother, Said Kouachi, 34, who had holed up in a warehouse north of Paris. Just minutes later, officers stormed the kosher supermarket where Coulibaly had opened fire, killing four before taking hostages. Coulibaly was killed during the police assault.
Police were searching throughout Paris on Saturday for Boumeddiene, wanted in connection with the Thursday shooting death of a policewoman, Clarissa Jean-Philippe, 27. In an interview with French broadcaster BFMTV during Friday's standoff, Coulibaly claimed the attack on the officer and the Kouachi brothers' assault on Charlie Hebdo were "coordinated."
Boumeddiene — who officials said has never been convicted of a crime — is considered armed and dangerous. Her connection, if any, to the supermarket attack remains unclear.
Boumeddiene and Coulibaly wed in July 2009 in an Islamic religious ceremony — a union that is not recognized by French law. Boumeddiene, who has an Algerian background, altered her name to "make it sound more French," the Daily Mail reported.
New images emerged of the female terror suspect late Friday, with several showing her dressed in a hijab, clutching a crossbow. One has her aiming the weapon at the camera. Another photo shows her in a bikini with Coulibaly.
Records obtained by the Associated Press show Boumeddiene was once interrogated by French officials about her reaction to terrorist acts committed by al-Qaeda.
"I don't have any opinion," she answered, but added that innocent people were being killed by Americans and needed to be defended. She said information provided by the media was suspect.
The Daily Mail reported that during the interrogation Boumeddiene said she was inspired by her husband and Islamic radicals she knew to "read a lot of books on religion and, because of this, I came to ask questions on religion."
"When I saw the massacre of the innocents in Palestine, in Iraq, in Chetchna, in Afghanistan or anywhere the Americans sent their bombers, all that … well, who are the terrorists?"
Hayat Boumeddiene, 26, the widow of slain gunman Amedy Coulibaly, exchanged 500 phone calls in 2014 with the wife of Cherif Kouachi, Paris prosecutor Francois Molins said Friday.
Authorities are digging for more information about the calls and consider Boumeddiene an "important witness" who must be questioned, said Christophe Crepin, spokesman for the UNSA police union.
"She has had a relationship with an individual whose ideology has been expressed in violence, and by the execution of poor people who were just doing their shopping in a supermarket," Crepin said. In the eyes of French officials, "she is a dangerous woman," he said.
Heavily armed police mounted simultaneous attacks on two hostage standoffs Friday, killing Cherif Kouachi, 32, and his brother, Said Kouachi, 34, who had holed up in a warehouse north of Paris. Just minutes later, officers stormed the kosher supermarket where Coulibaly had opened fire, killing four before taking hostages. Coulibaly was killed during the police assault.
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Clockwise from top left: Amedy Coulibaly, Hayat Boumeddiene, Said Kouachi, and his brother, Cherif Kouachi.(Photo: French police)
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Police were searching throughout Paris on Saturday for Boumeddiene, wanted in connection with the Thursday shooting death of a policewoman, Clarissa Jean-Philippe, 27. In an interview with French broadcaster BFMTV during Friday's standoff, Coulibaly claimed the attack on the officer and the Kouachi brothers' assault on Charlie Hebdo were "coordinated."
Boumeddiene — who officials said has never been convicted of a crime — is considered armed and dangerous. Her connection, if any, to the supermarket attack remains unclear.
Boumeddiene and Coulibaly wed in July 2009 in an Islamic religious ceremony — a union that is not recognized by French law. Boumeddiene, who has an Algerian background, altered her name to "make it sound more French," the Daily Mail reported.
New images emerged of the female terror suspect late Friday, with several showing her dressed in a hijab, clutching a crossbow. One has her aiming the weapon at the camera. Another photo shows her in a bikini with Coulibaly.
Records obtained by the Associated Press show Boumeddiene was once interrogated by French officials about her reaction to terrorist acts committed by al-Qaeda.
"I don't have any opinion," she answered, but added that innocent people were being killed by Americans and needed to be defended. She said information provided by the media was suspect.
The Daily Mail reported that during the interrogation Boumeddiene said she was inspired by her husband and Islamic radicals she knew to "read a lot of books on religion and, because of this, I came to ask questions on religion."
"When I saw the massacre of the innocents in Palestine, in Iraq, in Chetchna, in Afghanistan or anywhere the Americans sent their bombers, all that … well, who are the terrorists?"
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