French police seeking slain suspect’s widow
PARIS – A young Frenchwoman of North African origin opted to wear an Islamic veil, though she said the pious choice of attire cost her a job as a cashier. She has accused the U.S. of killing innocent Muslims, and she was photographed wielding a crossbow.
Never convicted of a crime herself, Hayat Boumeddiene, 26, was being sought Saturday by French police, who think she may have vital information about an Islamic extremist cell that her common-law husband, shot dead by police, may have belonged to.
French authorities, though, may be too late in their hunt for the missing widow. Turkish authorities told The Associated Press that she may be in Syria, after landing in their country days ago and vanishing near the Syrian-Turkish border.
In a 2010 interview with French counterterrorism police, a summary of which was obtained by the AP, Boumeddiene characterized herself as an observant Muslim, and her late common-law husband, Amedy Coulibaly, 32, who worked at the time for Coca-Cola, as somewhat of a party animal.
Coulibaly “is not really very religious,” Boumeddiene told police, according to the official judicial documents. “He likes to have a good time (and) all that.”
AirAsia reveals tail but no black boxes
PANGKALAN BUN, Indonesia – A tail section from the AirAsia plane that crashed into the Java Sea late last month, killing all 162 people on board, became the first major wreckage lifted off the ocean floor Saturday – but the all-important black boxes were not found inside.
The red metal chunk, with the words “AirAsia” clearly visible across it, was brought to the surface using inflatable balloons.
The cockpit flight and voice data recorders, located in the plane’s rear, must have detached when the Airbus A320 plummeted into the waters Dec. 28, said Indonesian military commander Gen. Moeldoko. Their recovery is essential to finding out why Flight 8501 crashed.
However, Moeldoko, who like many Indonesians uses only one name, said pings believed to be coming from the black boxes were detected Saturday. Their beacons emit signals for about 30 days until the batteries die, meaning divers have about two weeks left to find them.
Associated Press
