Bodies of French gunmen in limbo as they remain unclaimed

(Image credit: iStock)

published 16 January 2015

Authorities in France are trying to determine what to do with the bodies of Amedy Coulibaly, Chérif Kouachi, and Said Kouachi, the men behind the Paris attacks who were killed last week.

A Paris prosecutor said that no one has requested to bury them, and already several mayors have come forward saying they will not accept the bodies for burial in their towns, as they are afraid the graves would attract extremists. "If I'm asked to bury Said Kouachi, I will refuse categorically," Arnaud Robinet, mayor of Reims, told The New York Times. "I don't want a grave in Reims to become a place of prayer and contemplation for some fanatics."

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

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