Paris Grocery Gunman Linked to Third Shooting: Prosecutor

Paris: The shooting of a jogger in a Paris suburb on the same dayas the Charlie Hebdo massacre has been linked to the gunman who killed apolicewoman and four hostages at a kosher grocery, a prosecutor said Sunday.

In a brief statement, the prosecutor said ballistics testson shell cases from the shooting Wednesday in Fontenay aux Roses linked them tothe automatic weapon at the kosher store stormed two days later. The prosecutorsaid the jogger was seriously wounded.

Amedy Coulibaly was killed when police stormed the market.That raid took place just minutes after security forces killed the brothers whocarried out the massacre at Charlie Hebdo, a satirical newspaper that lampoonedIslam and other religions.

Earlier Sunday, video of emerged of Coulibaly where hepledges allegiance to the Islamic State group and defends the attacks on thesatirical newspaper and the Jewish store. Al-Qaida's branch in Yemen haspreviously said it directed the brothers' attack on the newspaper to avenge thehonor of the Prophet Muhammad.

In the video, apparently filmed over several days, Coulibalycan be seen with a gun, exercising and giving speeches in fluent French andbroken Arabic in front of an Islamic State emblem. He defends the attackscarried out on the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, police and the Jewishstore.

"What we are doing is completely legitimate, given whatthey are doing," Coulibaly tells the camera.

"You cannot attack and not expect retribution so youare playing the victim as if you don't understand what's happening."

The SITE Intelligence Group said it had verified the video,and a former drug dealing associate of Coulibaly's confirmed to The AssociatedPress the man in the video was indeed the slain hostage-taker. He spoke oncondition of anonymity because he did not want to attract police attention.

Coulibaly shot a policewoman to death on the outskirts ofParis the day after the Charlie Hebdo massacre, while the brothers who carriedit out were on the run. On Friday, with the brothers cornered inside a printinghouse near Charles de Gaulle airport, he took over the kosher grocery, demandingfreedom for the two.

After speaking in French in the video, Coulibaly continuesin broken Arabic, stumbling over words he can't pronounce that he seems to bereading from a paper. He mangles grammar as he gives his allegiance to the headof the Islamic State. He repeats a pact that other loyalists have used topledge their fealty to the militant group and then calls for others to carryout similar attacks.

The video appears to have been filmed over several days.Coulibaly is wearing different clothing in different shots. Someone added textafterward detailing the bloody outcome. At one point, he says Charlie Hebdowill be attacked "tomorrow" and that he and the brothers - longtimeacquaintances, according to judicial documents obtained by The Associated Press- were coordinating.

All three men were killed in nearly simultaneous raids bysecurity forces.

Five people detained in connection with the three days ofbloodshed in France were released from custody, the Paris prosecutor'sspokeswoman said earlier Sunday. Family members of the attackers have beengiven preliminary charges, but prosecutor's spokeswoman Agnes Thibault-Lecuivresaid no one remained in detention Sunday over the attacks that left 17 peopledead.

Coulibaly's widow, who has been named as an accomplice, isbelieved to have traveled to a Turkish city near the Syrian border and then alltraces of her were lost, according to a Turkish intelligence official, who wasnot authorized to speak on the record.

Brothers Said and Cherif Kouachi methodically massacred 12people at the Charlie Hebdo offices, led police on a chase for two days andwere then cornered Friday at a printing house near Charles de Gaulle Airport.Separately, Coulibaly shot a policewoman to death and attacked the Paris koshermarket, threatening more violence unless police let the Kouachis go. Fourhostages died.

In Germany, arsonists early Sunday attacked a newspaper thatrepublished Charlie Hebdo's cartoons. Two men were detained. No one was hurt inthe fire, but the newspaper Hamburger Morgenpost said several files in itsarchives were destroyed.