PARIS
A new video has emerged online that shows the gunman who killed hostages at a Kosher supermarket in Paris pledging allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant terrorist group.
Amedy Coulibaly took hostages at Porte de Vincennes Friday during which he was killed along with four hostages. Coulibaly was also blamed for the death of a French policewoman.
In the video, the attacker can be seen justifying attacks on the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo that was carried out by two other gunmen, the Kouachi brothers, that left 12 people dead.
The video, titled "soldier of the caliphate," is seven minutes and 16 seconds long; it was reportedly released first on YouTube before the Paris prosecutor made a special request to take it down, French daily Le Monde reported.
Coulibaly also made references to the killing of a French policewoman for which he was blamed before he carried out the attack on the kosher supermarket. Looking into the camera, he said he "came out against the police" as a text overlaid an image of the slain policewoman in the video.
About the French Algerian brothers who carried out the attack on Charlie Hebdo, Coulibaly claimed he funded the Kouachi brothers' attack on the magazine.
He also said he coordinated with the two brothers. "We manage to synchronize, to go out at the same time so we don’t cause each other any problems," he said.
French daily Le Figaro said police had authenticated the video.
Meanwhile, a Malian Muslim was hailed as a hero for saving the lives of around 15 people during the attack on the supermarket, French media reported.
Lassana Bathily, 24, had reportedly ushered several shoppers into a freezer in the market to save them from Coulibaly. "When they ran downstairs, I opened the door to the freezer and I went inside with them. I turned off the light and I turned off the freezer. I left the freezer and told them to stay calm," Bathily told France's BFMTV.
When the police killed Coulibally at the end of the hostage crisis, the shoppers thanked Bathily. "He saved our lives" they told reporters.
The video of the attacker has surfaced at a time when leaders from all over the world are flying to Paris to take part in a unity march to pay tribute to the victims of deadly attacks in France that left 17 people dead.
