Brother Malik has appealed for calm and and unity and said he was proud of Ahmed, who had devotedly cared for their mother since their dad died 20 years ago
The brother of the Muslim officer murdered by the Charlie Hebdo killers wept yesterday as he told how he was killed "by false Muslims."
In a moving tribute appealing for unity, the brother of Ahmed Merabet, the police officer gunned down in the Charlie Hebdo attack, hailed him as a “caring pillar of the family”.
Ahmed Merabet, 42, was slain in cold blood as the two gunmen fled the magazine offices where they had just slaughtered 11 people.
Horrifying video footage of Ahmed lying injured on the pavement pleading for his life was the first to shock the world as events of the last four days began to unfold.
Lying on his back, he stretched out a hand towards his advancing black-clad killer, who casually shot him at close range with an AK47.
Choking with tears, his brother Malik said he was proud of Ahmed, who had devotedly cared for their mother since their dad died 20 years ago.
Flanked by other grieving family members at a police press conference in Paris, he declared: “I am very proud to represent Ahmed Merabet, and to represent the French police and the values of the French republic – freedom, equality and fraternity.”
He said of his dead brother: “Thanks to his determination, he became a police officer.
“He was someone who loved his job. He was committed. He looked after his mother and his close family since his father died 20 years ago.
“He was the pillar of his family.... as a protective father, a lovely brother, a very spoiling uncle and a loving companion. We are devastated by this barbaric act.”
After a pause, Malik then declared: “I am now addressing all racists. The Islamophobes and the antisemites. You mustn’t mix up extremism with Muslims. The madmen have no colour or religion. Stop associating with or having wars or burning mosques and synagogues... It won’t bring back the dead and it won’t comfort families.”
Speaking of today’s planned march through Paris, when more than a million people are expected to show solidarity against extremism, Malik said: “It should be calm. I don’t want any incident please. Islam is a religion of peace, love and sharing. It is not about terrorism or madness.
“My brother was a Muslim and he was killed by people who pretend to be Muslims. They are terrorists, that’s all.”
Yesterday the four victims gunned down in a Jewish supermarket in the east of Paris were named. Yoav Hattab, 21, Philippe Braham, in his 40s, Yohan Cohen, 22, and Francois-Michel Saada, in his 60s, were shot by Amedy Coulibaly, a suspected associate of Charlie Hebdo killers Said and Cherif Kouachi.
Coulibaly, believed to have been in contact with the brothers during their siege in the north of Paris, stormed into the store with Kalashnikov rifles to try to force police to let the murderous pair go free.
Yohan who worked in the store and had grown up in the Paris suburb of Sarcelles, was blasted after he bravely snatched one of the killer’s own guns and tried to turn it on him, only to find that it had jammed.
Sarcelles deputy mayor François Pupponi said: “The family is devastated. He was a nice boy. I knew him by sight and his friends too.
Victim Yoav Hattab, is reportedly the son of the Chief Rabbi of Tunis in the former French colony of Tunisia.
A community spokesman said: “These French citizens were struck down in a cold-blooded manner and mercilessly because they were Jews.”
The possibility of taking all four victims to Israel for a state funeral was still being examined last night.
