Yousef Fofana

Youssouf Fofana, the alleged leader of a gang accused of torturing Ilan Halimi, a Jewish man, to death near Paris has been extradited to France from Ivory Coast.

Fofana’s extradition from Ivory Coast comes more than a week after French police were sent to the West African country to track him down. He fled there shortly after the death of Halimi, a telephone salesman.

Police have questioned more than 18 people in connection with Halimi’s kidnapping and death. Many of them are members of a suburban gang, calling themselves “the barbarians.” Fofana, who is of Ivorian extraction, is the suspected gang leader.

Fofana has offered conflicting responses about his involvement in Halimi’s death. A televised interview of Fofana in jail in Ivory Coast was broadcast in France on Monday. Many viewers were shocked to watch Fofana smiling and eating, as he responded to questions about Halimi’s killing.

This entry was posted on Sunday, March 5th, 2006 at 4:04 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.