A French suspected extremist linked to the 2015 attack on satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo that killed 12 people was arrested in Djibouti and is awaiting transfer to France, Reuters reported quoting French Defence Minister Florence Parly on Friday.
Peter Cherif, also known as Abou Hamza, was close to Cherif and Said Kouachi, who carried out the attack in Paris. The Kouachi brothers were shot dead by French police days after the attack.
“It’s very good news because this terrorist played an important part in the planning of the attack against Charlie Hebdo,” Parly told RTL Radio. “It shows the fight against terrorism is a long-haul action and that if you stay committed, you obtain results.”
Al-Qaeda’s branch in the Arabian Peninsula had claimed responsibility for the attack on Charlie Hebdo, saying it was revenge for the cartoons it had published of Prophet Mohammed.
A day after the Charlie Hebdo attack, an associate of the Kouachi brothers, Amedy Coulibaly, killed a policewoman and then attacked a Jewish store in Paris, where he killed four hostages before the police shot him dead.
Twenty people, including the three assailants, were killed in the attacks.
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