Bulgaria detains relative of Charlie Hebdo attacker

One of the relatives of the Islamist militants who attacked the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo was detained in Bulgaria after trying to get to Syria, said a judicial source on Sunday.

Authorities suspect 20-year-old Mourad Hamyd of attempting to enter Syria in order to join the militant "Islamic State" group, said the source, confirming a report from the newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche.

Hamyd is the brother-in-law of Cherif Kouachi who attacked the Charlie Hebdo headquarters in January last year along with his brother, killing 12 people.

He was first detained in Turkey in July after trying to enter Syria and was then expelled to Bulgaria where he was sent to a detention center, said the source.

Bulgaria's interior ministry confirmed that Hamyd was being held and said a court will rule on Tuesday about his arrest and possible extradition.

"He had behavior typical for a foreign fighter and that's how was identified," Interior Minister Rumiana Bachvarova told BTV television.

She said a European arrest warrant had been issued, but did not provide further details.

Hamyd had been questioned by police after the Charlie Hebdo attacks after being falsely identified on social media s one of the attackers. He was released without a charge and at the time told news agency AFP that the attacks were "a horrible crime."

He previously described himself as a normal student who lived at home with his parents.

France has suffered a spate of deadly attacks including the killing of a priest in Normandy last month, a Bastille Day truck attack in Nice and coordinated attacks in Paris last November which killed 130 people.

rs/bw (AFP, Reuters)