Reports from France quote neighbours of Hayat Boumeddiene (left) and Amedy Coulibaly saying that the duo had visited in Malaysia before. – Reuters pic, January 10, 2015.Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar has denied that French gunman Amedy Coulibaly and his fugitive wife Hayat Boumeddiene were ever in Malaysia, despite news report claiming that they holidayed here together.Khalid's latest post on Twitter today indicated that there was no evidence that showed the couple had ever entered the country.He, however, did not indicate or elaborate on how far back was the police search done."Paris attack – Checks by @PDRMsia resulted, Amedy and his wife Hayat have never entered M'sia." he tweeted, in an immediate response to reports by international news agencies claiming that both Coulibaly and Boumeddiene had previously holidayed in Malaysia.However, sources told The Malaysian Insider that police are also awaiting additional information on the duo as it was difficult to carry out checks to verify the reports based only on their names."Neither Amedy Coulibaly nor Hayat Boumeddiene figure prominently on the list of international terror suspects,""We are waiting for more information from French authorities," the source added, declining to elaborate further.It was reported that Coulibaly was killed along with four others after French security forces stormed the kosher grocery store where the former had been holding hostages.According to French judicial documents, a police search of Coulibaly's residence in 2010 turned up a crossbow, 240 rounds of 7.62mm ammunition, films and photos of him during a trip to Malaysia, as well as letters seeking false official documents.Boumeddiene is currently on the run and is reported to be armed and dangerous.This is not the first time that Malaysia has figured prominently in terror suspects' list of holiday destinations.After September 11, 2001, several Southeast Asian nations including Malaysia gained notoriety as the launching-pad for terrorism and network of Al-Qaeda operatives.It was reported that several high-level Al-Qaeda operatives held a meeting in Kuala Lumpur between January 5 and 8, 2000.The meeting had reportedly been held in the hotel room of Yazid Shufaat, a former Malaysian Army captain.The purpose of the meeting was allegedly to plan future attacks, which included the October 2000 bombing of the USS Cole and the September 11, 2001 US commercial airliner hijacking and attack plot.Those who attended the meeting included Riduan Isamuddin @ Hambali, Ramzi Al-Shibh, Nawaf Al-Hazmi, Khalid Al-Mihdhar and Tawfiq Attash. – January 10, 2015.
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