Paris ( CNN ) One of the two main terrorists accused in this week 's attacks in Paris had a long history of jihad and anti-Semitism , according to court documents that CNN obtained in conjunction with French newsmagazine L'Express . In a 400-page court record , Cherif Kouachi was described as wanting to travel to Iraq through Syria `` to go and combat the Americans . '' On Friday , security forces surrounded and killed Kouachi , 32 , and his older brother , Said , 34 , in Dammartin-en-Goele , France , the town 's mayor said . The Kouachi brothers were wanted in Wednesday 's massacre at the offices of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris that left 12 people dead . In the 2007 French court documents , Cherif Kouachi stated in a deposition , `` I was ready to go and die in battle , '' and `` I got this idea when I saw the injustices shown by television on what was going on over there . I am speaking about the torture that the Americans have inflicted on the Iraqis . '' The court documents -- dated December 2007 -- stem from a 2005 arrest . They say Cherif Kouachi was raised in orphanages and foster homes from a young age , and became involved in a group in Paris ' 19th arrondissement . He was arrested with other young men from that part of Paris for a conspiracy to go to Iraq and fight as jihadists . In the documents , prosecutors outlined strong details of Kouachi 's interest in jihad , interest in martyrdom and strong links to anti-Semitism , attacking and killing Jews . Kouachi stated he came to the idea of jihad through Farid Benyettou , a well-known spiritual leader who 's been long associated in France with supporting jihad and terrorism , and is associated with a mosque in the 19th arrondissement . Through Benyettou , Kouachi was studying how to wield arms and use Kalashnikovs . Under a section titled `` Motivations of Influence '' describing Kouachi , court records said he stated `` the wise leaders in Islam told him and his friends that if they die as martyrs in jihad they would go to heaven '' and `` that martyrs would be greeted by more than 60 virgins in a big palace in heaven . '' The documents also said , `` ( F ) or him any place on earth where there is such an injustice is justification for jihad ; what was going on Iraq was in his eyes such an injustice . '' The mosque , called La Mosquee de Stalingrad , has since been demolished and appears to be under construction . Court records show Kouachi said he did n't consider himself a good enough Muslim , and said he had only been to the mosque two or three times before he met Benyettou , and he had been smoking cannabis . Kouachi told investigators he committed himself to the idea of jihad during Ramadan in 2004 . He told his friends he was going to Syria to fight . The documents say when police interviewed his accomplices they stated that Kouachi `` said he was ready to firebomb and to destroy Jewish shops in Paris . '' When officials confronted Kouachi with that information , he told them `` that 's not exactly what I said . ... I do n't hide having proposed anti-Semitic ideas , but I would note that I never really would have done that . ''
Court documents stemming from 2005 arrest show Cherif Kouachi 's interest in jihad . The French magazine Charlie Hebdo was attacked by gunmen on January 7 last year and the magazine's offices were firebombed a few days later. Documents : Kouachi wanted to travel to Iraq via Syria `` to go and combat the Americans ''