Paris attacker was forbidden from leaving France after Yemen trip

[PARIS] One of the two brothers who carried out the deadly attack on French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo had been forbidden from leaving the country when he travelled to Yemen in 2011 for weapons training, a spokesman for the French justice department told Reuters.

Two senior Yemeni sources told Reuters on Sunday that both Cherif and Said Kouachi were smuggled into Yemen after arriving in Oman on July 25, 2011.

Before travelling to Yemen, Cherif Kouachi was detained from May to October 2010 on suspicion of being part of a group that tried to bust Smain Ali Belkacem - author of a 1995 attack on the Paris transport system that killed eight people and wounded 120 - out of prison.

On his release, Cherif Kouachi was placed under judicial control, which forbade him from leaving France, Justice Ministry spokesman Pierre Rance said.

The case against Kouachi was eventually dropped.

The two brothers were killed last week after police hunted them down to a print shop northeast of Paris.

REUTERS