A woman sought by French police in connection with the terror attacks in Paris last month was allegedly interviewed for an Islamic State propaganda magazine published Wednesday and Thursday, possible confirmation that she arrived in territory controlled by the radical group.
French authorities launched a search for Hayat Boumeddiene, 26, on January 9 – the same day that gunman Amedy Coulibaly held up a kosher supermarket, killing four.
The interview did not include a photograph of Boumeddiene nor mention her by name, and identified her only as “wife of our brother,” using Coulibaly’s self-proclaimed name.
Coulibaly, who claimed allegiance to the Islamic State and said he had coordinated with the Kouachi brothers responsible for killing 12 at satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, had also shot a policewoman dead on the first of three days of terror.
In the alleged interview, Boumeddiene describes Coulibaly as having a “burning desire to join his brothers and fight the enemies of Allah on the soil of the Caliphate.” She also makes references to passages from the Koran.
After the shootings, French authorities said Boumeddiene had left for Turkey before the attacks began. Turkish officials later said that she had crossed into Syria one day after the attack on Charlie Hebdo.
Last week, US broadcaster CNN reported that authorities were investigating the identity of a woman who appeared in a propaganda video to determine whether it was Boumeddiene, but there was no official confirmation of the report. SAPA