A Frenchman wanted in connection with deadly terrorist attacks in Paris has been extradited from Bulgaria to France, where he is facing charges of links to terrorism.
Fritz-Joly Joachin was arrested Jan. 1 on an unrelated warrant while trying to cross from Bulgaria into Turkey. French police say that Joachin, 29, was an associate of the Kouachi brothers, who killed 12 people in an attack Jan. 7 against newspaper Charlie Hebdo.
By DAVID KEYTON
Joachin is accused of participating in an organized crime group with a terrorist aim, and having links to a network feeding fighters to Syria. A judicial official said he arrived in France on Thursday, and is expected to appear before a judge imminently. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the investigation.
The Kouachi brothers and gunman Amedy Coulibaly were killed by police after attacking the newspaper and a kosher market. French authorities have handed four others preliminary charges on suspicion of links to the attackers.
European governments have been on alert for potential attacks by Islamic extremists, especially since the Paris attacks.
In Belgium, security forces thwarted what they said was a major terror attack against police with raids Jan. 15 that left two suspects dead. A suspect believed linked to that case was extradited from Greece to Belgium on Thursday. Belgian authorities said the suspect was officially charged with participation in a terrorist group.
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Raf Casert in Brussels and Nicolas Vaux-Montagny in Paris contributed to this report.
