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发帖数: 29846 | 1 By INTI LANDAURO
TOULOUSE, France—French special forces were engaged in a standoff Wednesday
with a Frenchman of Algerian descent, suspected of gunning down four people
at a Jewish school and killing three soldiers in a string of attacks that
have sparked outrage across the country.
Ashton Clarifies Toulouse Shooting Remarks
French police named the suspect as Mohammed Merah, 24, from Toulouse, saying
he has spent time in Afghanistan and Pakistan. During hours-long
negotiations with police trying to secure his surrender, the man claimed to
have links with al Qaeda, explaining that his goal was to avenge Palestinian
children and object to the French army's presence in Afghanistan.
The man is holed up in a four-story apartment building in the Côte Pav
ée residential neighborhood of Toulouse, about two miles south of the Ozar
Hatorah private Jewish school where he is suspected of killing a teacher and
three children Monday at point-blank range. Shots were fired in the early
hours of the morning outside the building, which has been surrounded by an
elite SWAT team since about 3 a.m. local time. Two policemen have been
injured, authorities said.
A specialized negotiator is leading talks with the man, who has told police
he would surrender Wednesday afternoon.
Although French police are still looking into the exact nature of the
suspect's alleged links to al Qaeda, a police official said the man had
traveled to Afghanistan in 2010 and was believed to have trained and fought
alongside Taliban groups. Police said they have yet to ascertain whether the
suspect benefited from al Qaeda logistical support to carry out the French
attacks.
The shootings of both Jews and soldiers in and near Toulouse echoes threats
the Islamic group made against France. In two separate audio messages
attributed to Osama bin Laden in October 2010 and January 2011, the late al
Qaeda leader had vowed to strike against France unless the country withdrew
all its troops from Afghanistan.
"The same way you threaten our security, we are threatening your security,"
bin Laden said in the October message. Bin Laden had also said the life of
French citizens held hostages in the Sahara would be on the line as long as
France maintains a military presence in Afghanistan.
France, which has about 3,500 troops in Afghanistan, is in the process of
repatriating its soldiers as part of wider pullout by the U.S. and North
Atlantic Treaty Organization forces, scheduled to be completed within the
next two years.
The city of Toulouse awoke Wednesday to a strong police presence. Residents
in the neighborhood near the siege have been advised to stay in their homes,
though immediate neighbors of the suspect have been evacuated.
Interior Minister Claude Guéant, who was at the scene in the middle of the
night and has been giving updates on live television, said the suspect has
been speaking to police for much of the morning, convincing authorities that
he was behind the series of recent killings.
"As regards the killing of the children at the Jewish school in Toulouse, he
was very explicit," said Mr. Guéant, referring to the suspect. "He said he
wanted to avenge the deaths of Palestinian children." The suspect is "less
explicit" on his motives for allegedly killing the three paratroopers. He
said the fact that they were of North African origin didn't feature in his
decision. "What he wanted was to target the French army," said Mr. Guéant.
The priority now is to arrest the suspect "alive," so that he can be
presented to French judicial authorities and answer for his crimes, Mr. Gué
ant said. The minister said one of the suspect's brothers has been arrested,
while another brother surrendered to police. The man's mother and sisters
have also been detained for questioning as a precautionary measure.
French authorities are examining what role the brothers may have played in
planning the attacks. A police officer said one of the brothers approached a
motorbike dealer asking questions about a Yamaha, T-Max scooter and whether
they included tracking devices. The same firearm was used in all three
attacks, which in each case were carried out by a lone gunman on a powerful
scooter.
The alleged shooter has been on the shortlist of suspects since three
soldiers were killed in two separate attacks in Toulouse and Montauban,
police said.
The authorities were able to trace the suspect via an email exchange.
Prosecutors had said they were looking into the email and phone accounts of
one of the dead soldiers to see whether he had been in contact with his
killer. The soldier, Imad Ibn-Ziaten, had posted a classified ad to sell his
motorbike, and was scheduled to meet with a tentative buyer when he was
killed.
French Defense Minister Gérard Longuet said this led investigators to the
suspect's brother's Internet address. "The cross-checking of information
that we had with the Internet address of interlocutors of the first victim
allowed us to close in" on the suspect, he said. Mr. Longuet said he didn't
think the deaths could have been avoided—even though the man was known to
the authorities—"unless we turn France into a police state."
President Nicolas Sarkozy, who was waked up during the night and kept
informed of events in Toulouse, congratulated the police force Wednesday for
their speedy investigation. He said everything was being done to arrest the
man and bring him to justice.
The coldblooded shootings in the southwest of the country have stunned the
French public and interrupted France's presidential election campaign. |
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