5 dead including the hostage taker, 4 hostages without doubts
several wounded, 5 wounded with 3 in a state of absolute emergency
Now, I would like, since this tragic episode came to a tragic end tonight,
I would like to come back with you, Sarah-Lou, on what, we, as a TV channel,
we lived today, because we have been in touch with the 2 hostages takers, at both sites.
We were able to talk with Chérif Kouachi and Amady Coulibaly
and it's only now that the assaults have been undertaken
that we can reveal this.
What happened, exactly?
Well just before ten, a journalist of our redaction,
Igor Sahiri, called the office of the company where Chérif Kouachi was located.
He called and got Cherif on the phone, they had a first conversation
which lasted a few seconds.
Then he called back and taped the conversation.
Chérif Kouachi knows he is talking to a journalist, and knows he is being asked questions.
He answers very clearly and tells us several things, which I propose to hear now.
He first explains that he is financed by Al-Qaeda Yemen, let's listen to him.
(Chérif) We just want to say that we are the defenders of the prophet
and I was sent, me, Chérif Kouachi, by Al-Qaeda Yemen.
And I went there and it's Anwar al-Awlaki who financed me. (speaks foreign language)
(Reporter) When was this, approximately ?
(Chérif) Hu, a long time ago, before he got killed, may Allah have mercy of him.
(Sarah-Lou) Anwar al-Awlaki was an American preacher who lived in Yemen and was considered one of the masterminds of Al-Qaeda
So he tells us that he was sent by Al-Qaeda Yemen, and then he explains
why they did this, he claims responsibility, explaining that they avenged the prophet
and explain that they deny having killed civilians.
This is important because, for them, the Charlie Hebdo journalists weren't civilians,
they were targets.
He then goes on, very calmly, that they didn't come to kill women and children
but it's us, Westerners, who kill Children, in Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria.
He talks in a very quiet and determined manner, and as if he had prepared answers
which was extremely troubling.
The conversation lasted 2 minutes and its essence was
to deliver his claims : he wanted his message known from the public.
(Host) I should point out that we did not reveal this information
while the search was still ongoing to avoid getting in the way
of the police during the operations.
(Sarah-Lou) So this was at ten, a phone call that we made to Chérif Kouachi.
But soon after 3, there was a different situation
where it's us that ceived a call, from Amedy Coulibaly,
and this time it was the deputy director of the redaction, Alexis Delahousse,
who took the call and did the interview.
He called us because he wanted to get in touch with the police
and Alexis Delahousse interviewed him, and asked him several things
including why he was there and who was behind him
and that's where he claimed very clearly to be form the Islamic state,
he says he receives instructions from the caliphate,
and then, another very important element,
because that's what we were saying this afternoon,
is that he will establish a link with the Kouachi brothers,
let's hear him.
(Reporter) Are you connected to the 2 brothers
who carried out the operation at Charlie hebdo ?
(Coulibaly) Yes, we synchronized the operations.
(Reporter) Are you still in touch with them right now?
Have you been speaking on the phone recently?
(C) No
(R) How did you synchronize? Are there other events scheduled?
Do you have a scenario, together, that you are following?
(C) No, we synchronized for the beginning.
So when thay started Charlie Hebdo, then I started... policemen
(Sarah-Lou) Another important element, he tells us that there are 4 casualties
in the shop, and that he is with 16 persons, including children.
So this confirms tonight's tally of 5 dead, including Coulibaly.
Then finally, he explains why he did this : to defend Muslims who are oppressed, he says,
notably in Palestine, and then he explains his target,
why this kosher store : because he targeted Jews.