- Killed by police after murdering four hostages in Paris, Reuters reports
- Amedy Coulibaly, 32, attended the same mosque as Cherif Kouachi
- Suspected terrorist once 'gushed' when introduced to French president
- His violence-plagued history includes armed robbery and drug-trafficking
- Radicalised by Djamel Beghal - once an associate of Osama Bin Laden's
- Also linked to mastermind behind 1995 Paris bombings which killed eight
- Allegedly working with Hayat Boumeddiene, who is believed to be his wife
The hostage taker killed after a showdown with the police in Paris was a close associate of the brothers who carried out the Charlie Hebdo massacre - and once became starstruck when he met former French President.
Ahmed Coulibaly murdered at least four hostages at a Kosher supermarket in Paris, according to Reuters news agency.
Now being branded a terrorist and killer, he once 'gushed' with excitement when he was hand-picked to meet Nicolas Sarkozy in 2009, while working at a Coca-Cola factory at his home town of Gigny.
27-years-old at the time, he said: 'I didn't know what I was going to say. So I began with hello.'
After telling Sarkozy about the temporary work he was doing and that his contract was due to end shortly, he grinned and said: 'At the end I asked if he wanted to hire me.'
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Cornered: French police have named the hostage taker as Amedy Coulibaly (left), 32, while also claimed a woman named Hayat Boumeddiene (right), 26, is involved
Stunned: A 27-year-old Coulibaly (pictured) once 'gushed' with excitement when he was hand-picked to meet former French president, Nicolas Sarkozy
Terror: Six people were being held hostage in a Kosher store in eastern Paris by a 'heavily armed' Islamic terrorist, police said
Taking aim: A police officer trains his sight on the suspected kidnapper
Prepared: Police in France have spared no safety measures against the Coulibaly, who's thought to be armed with two automatic weapons
Tactical: Police officers (pictured) en route to surrounding the kosher bakery, where a gunman has killed two and taken up to six hostage
Mastermind: Coulibaly was involved in the failed prison-break of Smain Ait Ali Belkacem, the man held responsible for the 1995 Paris bombings (left) and Djamel Beghal (right), once thought to be Osama Bin Laden's recruiter in Europe
Sarkozy's popularity rating was nose-diving at the time, and he was very unpopular among the young in particular.
But Coulibaly admitted: 'In truth the meeting impressed me. Whether you like him or not, he is the President.'
Coulibay is believed to be part of an Al Qaeda terror cell linked to a British-based jihadi extremist, Djamel Beghal.
Like Cherif Kouachi, who carried out the Charlie Hebdo attack, Coulibay was mentored by the key al Qaeda leader who recruited terrorists while worshipping at London's Finsbury Park mosque.
Coulibaly and Kouachi met the 50-year-old Beghal, once accused of being Osama bin Laden's main European recruiter, while in prison in Paris.
They maintained links with the Al Qaeda lynchpin after being released from jail in 2009.
As part of a jihadist cell with Said and Cherif Kouachi, he was involved in the failed prison-break attempt of Smain Ait Ali Belkacem, the mastermind behind a wave of bombings in France in 1995 which killed eight people and wounded 120.
He was said to be working with a woman called Hayat Boumeddiene, 27, who he's thought to have married in a religious ceremony.
The 'armed and dangerous' woman, who he has been with since 2010, is thought to have lived in his house while he served a four-year prison sentence for armed robbery.
Armed: Dozens of police officers take refuge outside the Kosher bakery in Vincennes, where Ademy Coulibaly and Hayat Boumeddiene are thought to be holding hostages
Siege: French police, with weapons in hand, head to yet another terror attack in Paris
Ultimatum: The hostage takers these policeman are on their way to confront have threatened to kill the remaining hostages if the Charlie Hebdo attackers are raided
They were never married in a civil ceremony – the only marriage legally accepted in France.
The suspected kidnapper and killer has a long history of both petty and serious crimes. The only boy born in a family of ten in Juvisy, Essonne, he first came to police attention as a 17-year-old delinquent.
Convictions for theft and drug offences followed. In September 2002 in Orleans, Loiret, he was arrested for the armed robbery of a bank.
It's believed he became involved with the younger of the Kouachi brothers, Cherif, when he was part of a jihadist recruitment ring in Paris that sent fighters to join the conflict in Iraq. Kouachi was subsequently sentenced to three years in prison.
It is not known whether Boumeddiene was in the Kosher store with Coulibaly.
The two sieges by suspected Islamic terrorists played out at the same time, as fears grew that they would be looking to cause another bloodbath.
Coulibaly is believed to be the one responsible for shooting a policewoman dead in south Paris on Thursday.
Suspects: The three men were named as Cherif Kouachi (left), 32, his brother Said Kouachi (right), 34, and Hamyd Mourad, 18, of Gennevilliers
Surveillance: A French army helicopter flies over the industrial area where Charlie Hebdo massacre suspects are hiding
Cornered: French special forces are pictured in Corcy, near Villers-Cotterets, where the Kouachi brothers are believed to be hiding
On the run: French police have surrounded an area north-east of Paris where the armed men, who killed 12 people in Paris on Wednesday, are believed to be hiding
The revelation led police to link it to the murder of 12 people around the offices of the Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine on Wednesday.
'He was in the same Buttes Chaumount cell as the Kouachi brothers,' said a source close to the investigation.
'He was friends of both of them.'
Both Said Kouachi, 34, and his brother, Cherif Kouachi, 32 – who have been killed in building north of Paris – were first arrested in 2005
They were suspected members of the Buttes Chaumont – a group operating out of the 19th arrondissement of Paris and sending terrorist fighters to Iraq.
Cherif was convicted in 2008 to three years in prison, with 18 months suspended, for his association with the underground organisation.
He had wanted to fly to Iraq via Syria, and was found with a manual for a Kalashnikov – the automatic weapon used in Wednesday's attack.
Said was freed after questioning by police, but – like his brother – was known to have been radicalised after the Iraq War of 2003, when Anglo-American forces deposed Saddam Hussein.
Both brothers were said to be infuriated by the killing of Muslims by western soldiers and war planes.
Taking position: Special forces snipers fix their gaze on the position of the Kouachi brothers
Hostile force: Police take their positions around the Kouachi brothers' location in Dammartin-en-Goele
Calm before the storm: Police rendezvous near the Kouachi brothers' location before launching their attack
Vincent Olliviers, Cherif's lawyer at the time, described him as initially being an 'apprentice loser - a delivery boy in a cap who smoked hashish and delivered pizzas to buy his drugs.
But Mr Ollivier said the 'clueless kid who did not know what to do with his life met people who gave him the feeling of being important'.
Belkacem was a leading members of the GIA, or Armed Islamic Army – an Algerian terror outfit responsible for numerous atrocities.
The Kouachi brothers, who are orphans, were radicalised by an Iman operating in northern Paris.
They were raised in foster care in Rennes, in western France, with Cherif training as a fitness instructor before moving to Paris.
They lived in the 19th arrondissement and were radicalised by Farid Benyettou, a janitor-turned-preacher who gave sermons calling for jihad in Iraq and suicide bombings.
The Kouachis share similar backgrounds to Mohammed Merah, the 23-year-old French Algerian responsible for murdering seven people, including four Jews and three Muslim soldiers, in the Toulouse area in 2012.
Merah, who was himself shot dead by police, had also been left to operate as a terrorist in France, despite the authorities knowing he had trained with Al Qaeda in Afghanistan
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