French intelligence says Paris killings an inside job

According to the reports, French intelligence has been aware of a conflict inside the terrorist organization for a while before the murders, which supports the belief that the murders came as a result of an intra-PKK problem.

French police took two men, who are Turkish citizens with Kurdish origins, into custody as part of the investigation, French police and judicial sources said on Friday. Suspects are still being held in custody and French police have increased the detention time of suspects to 96 hours. According to French laws, suspects who remain detained for 48 hours are either released or stand trial later.

French Le Parisien has reported that police did not find any evidence related with the murder in searches conducted in the homes of the murdered terrorists.

According to the website of the Le Point magazine, one of the suspects was with the murdered terrorists and he was the last person to see them alive. The report said he was detained after he sounded suspicious while answering the police's questions.

The murder is seen in Turkey as an effort to derail ongoing peace talks between the Turkish government and the terrorist organization in a bid to end decades of fighting. It is being investigated whether or not PKK members who opposed the talks are involved in the murders.

On Jan. 9, three female PKK militants, Sakine Cansız, Fidan Doğan and Leyla Söylemez, were gunned down at the Kurdistan Information Bureau in Paris. The bodies of the militants were flown to Turkey, where they were sent to the southeastern province of Diyarbakır for burial.

The execution-style killings came as Turkey is holding talks with jailed PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan to broker a deal for the disarming of the PKK. The group, designated a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and European Union, is reviled by most Turks, who see it as responsible for a conflict that has killed 40,000 people as it tries to carve up Turkish territory.

Meanwhile, Kurdish People's Congress (KONGRA-GEL) head Remzi Kartal told the Taraf daily that the murders are not something that could be committed by a 100-percent PKK decision. “PKK is an organization, it is not an individual,” he said, adding the killings were carried out by circles who oppose peace. Kartal did not rule out the implication of PKK members in the incident.