A French man wanted in connection with the deadly terrorist attacks in Paris has been extradited from Bulgaria to France where he is facing charges of links to terrorism, judicial officials say.
Fritz-Joly Joachin, a Muslim convert of Haitian origin, was arrested by Bulgarian police on January 1st on an unrelated warrant while trying to cross from Bulgaria into Turkey.
French police say the 19-year-old was an associate of the Kouachi brothers who killed 12 people in an attack on January 7th against the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.
Mr Joachin is accused of participating in an organised crime group with a terrorist aim and links to a network feeding fighters to Syria. The construction worker, who had no previous criminal convictions, was travelling with a man who was allegedly part of a Islamist network in Paris, according to his European arrest warrant.
Seventeen people were killed in Paris in three days of violence that began with the storming of the offices of Charlie Hebdo on January 7th by the brothers Cherif and Said Kouachi. The brothers were shot dead by French security forces after they took refuge in a print works outside Paris.
Officials said Mr Joachin had arrived in France on Thursday and is expected to appear before a judge shortly.
PA