http://www.liveleak.com/browse?q=Montauban Sat, 25 May 2013 11:08:39 -0400 Liveleak http://edge.liveleak.com/80281E/u/u/ll2/logo.gif http://www.liveleak.com/browse?q=Montauban Wed, 12 Sep 2012 13:03:22 -0400 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=a40_1347469247 POLUX Published Wednesday, September 12, 2012 A mosque in the French city of Limoges has been desecrated by having excrement smeared on its doors, Interior Minister Manuel Valls said Wednesday in a statement condemning the incident. The attack occurred overnight following reports of mob violence in Egypt and Libya involving Islamists angered by a US-made film said to insult the Prophet Mohammed. There was no immediate indication, however, that the desecration was linked to the unrest over the film. Local police said the mosque doors had been daubed with neo-Nazi graffiti at the end of July. They also said it was possible the attack was of a random nature, as a local restaurant unconnected to the Muslim community was subject to a similar attack earlier this month. Unlike many mosques in France, the Limoges centre is immediately recognisable as an Islamic place of worship because of its minaret. "This attack is a grave assault on the dignity of Muslims and is shocking for every citizen who upholds the values of respect and tolerance," Valls said in his statement. The incident in Limoges, in the center of France, came a month after two pig heads were deposited at the entrance of a mosque in Montauban in the south of the country. France is home to at least four million Muslims and leaders of the largest Islamic community in Europe say incidents of Islamaphobia are on the rise against a background of confrontation with the authorities. Many Muslims have been angered by legislation banning women from wearing full veils and this year's elections were marked by debate over the use of halal methods of animal slaughter. (AFP) Source: http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/france-mosque-smeared-excrement http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=a40_1347469247 POLUX France mosque smeared with excrement france,mosque,poo,excrement,US,Christopher Stevens,ambassador,lybia Fri, 03 Aug 2012 17:54:05 -0400 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=77e_1344030223 aydeo Act is 'an odious desecration,' say community leaders, who also convey their 'sincerest sentiments of friendship' to the Muslim community.On March 15, Muslim extremist Mohammed Merah murdered two French soldiers in the city. Days later, he murdered three children and rabbi at a Jewish school in Toulouse- French Jewish leaders are calling the tossing of two pig heads into a mosque not far from Toulouse "an odious desecration." Worshippers at the Salam mosque in Montauban in southern France discovered two pig heads at the entrance to the building on Thursday. On March 15, Muslim extremist Mohammed Merah murdered two French soldiers in the city. Days later, he murdered three children and rabbi at a Jewish school in Toulouse, which is about 31 miles north of Montauban. The CRIF, the umbrella organization of French Jewish communities, called the incident "an odious desecration" and said it "identifies with the outrage of the Muslim community, which was deeply offended by the act perpetrated during Ramadan." The Jewish communities of France convey their "sincerest sentiments of friendship" to the Muslim community, the statement said. France's Union of Jewish Students also said in a statement that it was appalled by an incident that had occurred in a "worrying climate of hatred." According to AFP, the incident on Thursday was the first of its kind in the Tarn-et-Garonne region, leading to speculation it was a response to Merah's March shooting spree. In 2009, unknown individuals hung pig's feet outside a mosque in Castres, about 75 miles southeast of Montauban. http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/jewish-world-news/french-jewish-leaders-condemn-tossing-of-two-pig-heads-into-mosque-near-toulouse-1.455844 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=77e_1344030223 aydeo French Jewish leaders condemn tossing of two pig heads into mosque near Toulouse French Jewish leaders, condemn, pig heads, mosque,Toulouse,Mohammed Merah Sun, 08 Jul 2012 22:27:17 -0400 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=d56_1341800168 TheSanityInspector Something for our French LL amis. In advance of a French TV news special in September, these recordings have been released, showing police negotiating with the terrorist who killed French soldiers and jews in southern France, before being killed after a siege. Google translation of OP video description: But then the contact is established and discussions with Merah show its determination. "I am a determined, I did not do it to let me get caught, you've seen. Here you see one negotiates , we are negotiating, after, out of the negotiations, do not forget that I have the weapons in hand, I know what will happen, I know how you operate to intervene, "he told the negotiator, according to this recording released in the September issue at Eight. "I know you could shoot me, it's a risk I take. So now, know that in front of you, you have a man who not afraid of death. me death, I love you like you love life, "he adds. In these four and a half hours recording ensures that the chain hold, Merah also expressed his contacts with "brothers" of al-Qaida in Pakistan, its future actions but also the lifestyle he had adopted: "That's part of the trick, you see," said he to negotiator. Mohamed Merah three paratroopers assassinated in Toulouse and Montauban, and three children and a Jewish father. The show will air in September at eight Sunday excerpts of conversations between the terrorist and police during the siege of his apartment. He cites his ties to Al Qaeda and the DCRI. TF1 broadcast this Sunday evening for the first time extracts audio discussions between Mohamed Merah and the police during the 32 hours of the siege of Toulouse his apartment which was completed by death of the killer scooter on March 22. In these excerpts are broadcast in September to eight, says Merah be ready to continue his killing spree, be sure links to al-Qaida and organized crime, and how it misled the vigilance of the DCRI who was watching. On March 21 around 3 am, police raid the attempt to storm the apartment of the "killer scooter". They are greeted by heavy fire. But then the contact is established and discussions with Merah show its determination. "I am a determined, I did not do it to let me get caught, you've seen. Here you see one negotiates , we are negotiating, after, out of the negotiations, do not forget that I have the weapons in hand, I know what will happen, I know how you operate to intervene, "he told the negotiator, according to this recording released in the September issue at Eight. "I know you could shoot me, it's a risk I take. So now, know that in front of you, you have a man who not afraid of death. me death, I love you like you love life, "he adds. In these four and a half hours recording ensures that the chain hold, Merah also expresses his contacts with "brothers" of Al Qaeda in Pakistan, its future actions but also the lifestyle he had adopted "It's part of the trick, you see," said he to the negotiator. Mohamed Merah three paratroopers assassinated in Toulouse and Montauban, and three children and a Jewish father. http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=d56_1341800168 TheSanityInspector "I love death the way you love life." Recordings of talks between Toulouse police and terrorist Mohamed Merah france, jews, muslims, terrorism, islam Wed, 04 Apr 2012 01:55:35 -0400 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=7bf_1333518141 MB-UK Police in France have conducted new raids on Islamist suspects in the wake of the multiple killings by gunman Mohamed Merah. At least 10 people were arrested as police conducted operations in Marseille, Roubaix, Carpentras and a number of other locations. Thirteen people arrested in raids last week face terrorism charges. President Nicolas Sarkozy vowed to crack down on suspected radical Islamists after the Merah killings. Most of Wednesday's raids were in the south and south-west, notably in Marseille but also in Carpentras, Valence and Pau, police sources told Agence France-Presse news agency. There was also a raid in Roubaix, close to the Belgian border. The operation comes less than a week after raids that targeted men who are believed to be associated with a radical group called Forsane Alizza, which was banned last month. Police have been careful not to link the raids to the killings by Merah in Toulouse and Montauban. The self-confessed al-Qaeda gunman was shot dead by police in Toulouse, following attacks in which he murdered seven people, including three children. After last week's raids, Mr Sarkozy, who faces a presidential election this month, said the crackdown on radical Islamists "would continue and that will allow us to expel from our national territory a certain number of people who have no reason to be here". On Monday, the French interior ministry announced the expulsion of five radical Islamic preachers as part of the crackdown.---- Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-17607155 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=7bf_1333518141 MB-UK Breaking news: At least 10 Islamists Arrested in new French Raid this Morning france, muslims, crackdown, arrests, raid, europe, islam Fri, 30 Mar 2012 13:28:09 -0400 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=227_1333127905 MB-UK Police in France have arrested 19 suspected Islamist militants and seized weapons in a series of dawn raids, President Nicolas Sarkozy says. The raids were in Toulouse, the home of gunman Mohamed Merah, and other cities. Merah, who killed seven people in three separate attacks, was buried in Toulouse on Thursday after being killed in a shoot-out with police on 22 March. Police have been hunting possible accomplices but sources said there was no direct link with the raids. Mr Sarkozy told Europe 1 radio after Friday's raids: "It's our duty to guarantee the security of the French people. We have no choice. It's absolutely indispensable." The raids were carried out by the domestic intelligence agency, the DCRI, with the help of the elite Raid police commando group, Agence France-Presse news agency reports. Several of the raids were in Toulouse, particularly the Mirail quarter, sources told AFP. But there were also raids in Nantes, which is believed to be a centre for the Forsane Alizza (Knights of Pride) group, to which Merah had been linked by some French media. It is a Salafist group that was dissolved by the interior ministry in an earlier investigation. One of those arrested was the group's suspected leader, Mohammed Achamlane. Police sources told AFP that three Kalashnikovs, a Glock pistol and a grenade were seized at his home. Other raids took place in Lyon, Marseille, Paris, Nice, Rouen and Le Mans. The BBC's Christian Fraser in Paris says the DCRI had been criticised for allowing Merah to slip through the gaps, so the agency now appears to be concentrating on people that may have slipped from focus over the past few months. Merah's brother, Abdelkader, has already been charged with aiding him and police are hunting a third man said to be involved in the theft of a scooter that Merah used in all the killings. Police also say a USB memory stick that was posted to the al-Jazeera TV channel containing the video he took of the killings must have been posted by someone other than Merah. After Merah's killings, President Sarkozy ordered police to evaluate the level of danger posed by those known to sympathise with radical Islamists. Mr Sarkozy told Europe 1 on Friday that arrests of suspected radical Islamists "would continue and that will allow us to expel from our national territory a certain number of people who have no reason to be here". He added: "What must be understood is that the trauma of Montauban and Toulouse is profound for our country, a little - I don't want to compare the horrors - a little like the trauma that followed in the United States and in New York after the September 11, 2001 attacks." Mr Sarkozy is in the midst of a presidential election campaign, seeking a second term in office in the polls on 22 April. An opinion poll late on Wednesday suggested Mr Sarkozy was now ahead of main challenger Francois Hollande in first-round voting intentions - by 30% to 26% - and had narrowed Mr Hollande's lead in the largely expected run-off vote on 6 May. Merah, 23, was buried at the Cornebarrieu cemetery in Toulouse on Thursday. His body was accompanied by around 15 men, although it was not clear who they were. Toulouse's mayor had said it was "inappropriate" for Merah to be buried there, but Algeria, where his family is originally from, had refused to accept his body. Merah died in a police assault on his flat in Toulouse on 22 March after a 32-hour siege. He had killed three soldiers in two separate attacks before shooting dead three children and a teacher at a Jewish school. Merah is said to have told police he wanted to avenge Palestinian children and to attack the French army because of its foreign interventions.---- Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-17558564 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=227_1333127905 MB-UK France arrests 19 suspected Islamist militants in raids france, toulouse, arrests, 19, islamists, raid, muslim, islam Tue, 27 Mar 2012 14:33:19 -0400 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=54c_1332867886 MB-UK The al-Jazeera TV channel has decided not to broadcast video material it has received that shows the attacks carried out by Toulouse gunman Mohamed Merah. Officials at the Qatar-based channel announced the decision after a plea by French President Nicolas Sarkozy. Merah filmed himself killing seven people, including Jewish children and unarmed soldiers, before he was shot dead after a 32-hour siege last week. Police believe the video may have been posted by an accomplice of Merah. Mr Sarkozy welcomed al-Jazeera's decision and pledged to do all he could to block the transmission of the video should any other media outlet attempt to show it. Commenting on its decision, al-Jazeera said: "The Paris bureau received a video from an anonymous source entitled Al-Qaeda Attaque la France that appears to show the recent killings in Toulouse and Montauban. "Given its contents, we immediately passed the video on to the French police as we were duty-bound to do and they are conducting their investigation. "In accordance with al-Jazeera's code of ethics, given the video does not add any information that is not already in the public domain, its news channels will not be broadcasting any of its contents." Al-Jazeera said it had received numerous requests from media outlets for copies of the video but had rejected them. A USB memory stick containing the footage, sent along with a note claiming the attacks in the name al-Qaeda, was posted last Wednesday, when Merah, 23, was already under siege. It was posted from "outside Toulouse", a police source told Agence France-Presse. The BBC's Christian Fraser in Paris says investigators will now try to work out whether Merah passed on the footage via the internet or in person. He says the original material had been found in Merah's flat after the siege ended, so it must have been copied. Earlier, al-Jazeera Paris bureau chief Zied Tarrouche confirmed he had watched the video and it showed all of the killings in chronological order. The videos had been re-edited and mixed with music and recitals of Koranic verse. "You hear the voice of the person who carried out the killings," Mr Tarrouche told French channel BFM TV. "You also hear the victims' cries. My feelings are those of any human being who sees horrible things." Mr Tarrouche said he had to weigh up the "risks and the consequences" of airing the video, but he added: "We are not a sensational network." Mr Sarkozy, in an address to magistrates and police officers who took part in the Merah case, had urged media not to show the footage. "I ask of those in charge of all the TV channels in possession of these images not to broadcast the images under any pretext out of respect for the victims and out of respect for the republic," he said. Relatives of the dead echoed his plea. The mother of Imad Ibn Ziaten, the first of three paratroopers killed by Merah, told AFP: "My son was killed, a 30-year-old child and people want to show it as if it were a film. Please, I can't see that." There is no suggestion any other outlets have the footage. Merah's brother Abdelkader has been charged with helping him steal the powerful Yamaha scooter used in the killings, and police are seeking a third person over the theft of the scooter. Meanwhile, Merah's Algeria-based father has been sharply criticised for saying he wants to sue France over his son's death. Mohamed Benalel Merah has said he wants to bury his son, who reportedly had joint French and Algerian citizenship, in Algeria. His accusation that the French authorities deliberately chose to kill his son rather than capture him has caused indignation in Paris. "If I were the father of such a monster, I would shut my mouth in shame," said French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe.---- Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-17526424 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=54c_1332867886 MB-UK Al-Jazeera ops not to air Merah shootings videos Al-jazeera, not, airing, merah, shootings, videos, toulouse, france, muslims, islam, algeria Tue, 27 Mar 2012 00:28:56 -0400 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=5e5_1332821315 Silver550 5 Minutes. 300 Bullets. The Toulouse shooting suspect, Mohamed Merah, has died after police stormed his flat, ending a 32-hour siege. The French interior minister, Claude Gu'eant, said Merah burst out of his bathroom firing a gun when an elite police squad entered the flat at around 11:30am. He fired at least 30 rounds of rapid ammunition at police, then jumped out of a window while still shooting at officers. He was shot by a sniper and appeared to have died from a bullet to the head.The 23-year-old unemployed panel-beater from Toulouse had been holed up in his flat, surrounded by police, since 3:30am on Wednesday. He had willingly told negotiators who spoke to him by walkie-talkie that he was behind three shootings that have horrified France in recent days: two shootings of soldiers in Toulouse and Montauban and an ambush at the gates of a Jewish school in Toulouse on Monday. He had claimed allegiance to al-Qaida.The suspect had promised to give himself up to police before midnight on Wednesday night but then said surrendering was against his principles. His last communication with officers surrounding the block was just after midnight. They blew off the window shutters with a grenade explosion, after which two shots were heard. Then there was silence until 11am. Officers did not know if Merah was dead or alive as he did not respond to grenades and a series of explosions on Thursday morning.At 10:30am the decision was taken to enter the flat. Merah appeared from the bathroom wearing a bulletproof vest and brandishing guns.After sustained gunfire - Gu'eant said one officer told him he had never seen "such an intense and violent assault" - there was silence."Video equipment was deployed to inspect different rooms in the flat," Gu'eant said. "No sign of him was found. But as the equipment inspected the bathroom, Mohamed Merah burst out, apparently armed with several weapons, and fired with extreme ferocity ... Raid officers returned fire. The snipers opposite attempted to neutralise him. In the end, Mohamed Merah jumped through a window, gun in hand, and carried on firing. He was found dead on the ground." http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=5e5_1332821315 Silver550 The apartment of the terrorist Merah after the RAID assault Terrorist Al-Qaida Merah Toulouse French Serial Killer sniper assault Mon, 26 Mar 2012 14:53:52 -0400 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=9d9_1332787398 VikingRapeSquad Leftist Commentators Blame Media For Reporting Truth About Merah Is there a double standard perpetrated by Western media in its coverage of violent killing sprees depending on the race, ethnicity, or religion of the perpetrator? Harvey Morris of the International Herald Tribune , the global edition of the New York Times , asserts just this in his recent op-ed about the recent killing spree by a young Muslim terrorist, Mohammed Merah, in France. Morris, echoing the thesis of Salon.com's far-left Glenn Greenwald , contrasts the "Western media's" coverage of Merah's killing spree to the coverage of American Sgt. Bales, recently charged in killing 16 innocent woman and children in Afghanistan. Both Morris and Greenwald indict Western media for its supposed hypocrisy in assuming that a Muslim charged with committing violent acts is a radical jihadi terrorist, while assuming that an American soldier must be rooted in some sort of mental problem or emotional dysfunction. Morris closes his article by quoting Greenwald: There is, quite obviously, a desperate need to believe that when an American engages in acts of violence of this type, there must be some underlying mental or emotional cause that makes it sensible, something other than an act of pure hatred or evil. When a Muslim engages in acts of violence against Americans, there is an equally desperate need to believe the opposite: that this is yet another manifestation of inscrutable hatred and evil, and any discussion of any other causes must be prohibited and ignored. The problem is, this analysis is just plain wrong. Look back to the New York Times coverage of another violent killing spree, this one by Major Nidal Hasan, the American Muslim Army psychiatrist. Here the New York Times , which also happens to be "Western media," not only afforded the same courtesy to Hasan, a Muslim, as has been asserted to have been afforded to Sgt. Bales, but also went out of its way to do so in light of overwhelming evidence that Hasan had been previously radicalized. What both Morris and Greenwald have wholly brushed aside are the factual underpinnings for concluding that Merah was acting as a jihadi terrorist. Merah proclaimed himself to be a jihadi and a member of Al Qaeda and screamed "Allahu Akbar" when he attacked paratroopers in Montauban on March 15, 2012. If we already know that Merah and others who killed or tried to kill innocent people have become radicalized and received terrorist training, isn't this what a fact-based journalist ought to concentrate on? If Greenwald and Morris are seeking to condemn Western media for bias, they ought to turn the mirror on themselves and their alacrity to make sweeping justifications without following the first rule of vetting their story: fact-gathering. http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=9d9_1332787398 VikingRapeSquad Rememeber when Merah was a White, right wing, terrorists and Trayvon Martin Was a Sweet, Innocent, Black, Child? merah, trayvon, media, bias, joke Wed, 21 Mar 2012 16:22:35 -0400 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=f8d_1332361196 dietcokesucks France gunman 'set to kill again' Latest Live Analysis Profile of gunman In pictures Video What we know The BBC's Christain Fraser looks at how the police tracked him down Continue reading the main storyToulouse ShootingsLatest updatesLive Hewitt: Political fallout Victims buried in Israel In pictures: Toulouse raid The Frenchman suspected of a spate of shootings in the Toulouse area planned more killings, prosecutors have said. Anti-terror chief Francois Molins said the suspect, named as Mohammed Merah, 23, of Algerian descent, intended to kill a soldier and two police officers. Merah, who says he was trained by al-Qaeda, is suspected of murdering three soldiers and four Jewish people. Police have surrounded his flat and are trying to persuade him to surrender. He is said to be heavily armed. Earlier reports said he had been captured, but officials later rebuffed the claims. Continue reading the main storyAt the sceneRichard GalpinBBC News, ToulouseJust after President Sarkozy arrived in Toulouse for meetings at a military barracks close to where the siege is taking place, reports began circulating that it was all over, Mohammed Merah had been arrested. But minutes later came the denials. First by local officials in Toulouse, then by the interior minister himself. It all added to the tension. How will the siege which began at 3am local time on Wednesday morning, be brought to an end? Officially the French government says it wants to capture him alive so that he can stand trial on charges of murdering seven people and injuring at least two others. But it will not be an easy operation if he decides to stand and fight. He is reported to have an automatic rifle, a sub machinegun and grenades inside his apartment. The killings took place in and around Toulouse in three separate incidents earlier this month. On 11 March, a soldier was shot and killed while waiting to see a man about selling his motorcycle. Days later, two soldiers were shot and killed, and a third was wounded while waiting at a cash machine. Then earlier this week, three children and an adult were shot and killed outside a Jewish school. The four Jewish victims were buried in an emotional funeral in Jerusalem earlier. In a news conference, Mr Molins said Merah had planned to kill a soldier later on Wednesday and also had plans to target the police. "If he's telling the truth, he would have left his house this morning and he would have once again killed any soldier that he came across," the prosecutor said. Mr Molins said the suspect had expressed no regret for the killings, but had said he wanted to kill more people and "bring France to its knees". President Nicolas Sarkozy has attended a memorial at a military base in nearby Montauban for the three murdered soldiers. Continue reading the main storyHunt for French killerFrance has seen an unprecedented security clampdown after a lone gunman killed seven people, including three children, in three separate attacks in the south-west of the country. Police tracked down the main suspect after investigating the movements of a stolen scooter used by the killer to make his escape following shootings in Toulouse and nearby Montauban. 1/6He earlier told Jewish community leaders that the gunmen had been planning more attacks before police had surrounded his apartment block. 'Vengeance' claimPolice moved into Merah's block after two officers were shot at when they tried to get into his flat. Officials say he is heavily armed with a Kalashnikov high-velocity rifle, a mini-Uzi 9mm machine pistol, several handguns and possibly grenades. Continue reading the main storyMohammed MerahFrench citizen of Algerian extraction, aged 23 Has criminal record in France for non-terrorist crimes Has described himself as an al-Qaeda member and has spent time in Afghanistan and Pakistan Profile: Mohammed Merah French shootings: What we know The five-storey block of flats was evacuated earlier, and police were also moving residents of nearby buildings. Hundreds of officers are now stationed outside the block. Elsewhere in the city, police are hunting for accomplices and have detained several members of his family. His mother was taken to the scene in the hope that she could persuade him to surrender, but she told police that she had no influence over her son. Negotiators have been talking to Merah all morning, but officials said he appeared to have no particular demands. The suspect has said he acted to "avenge Palestinian children" and said he would give himself up. Nicolas Sarkozy: "The soldiers were targeted because they were part of the French army" Merah claimed to have received al-Qaeda training in Pakistan's Waziristan area, and also said he had been to Afghanistan, prosecutors said. Afghan officials told the BBC he had been jailed in Kandahar for planting bombs in 2007, but escaped in a Taliban-led break-out in 2008. Other Afghan sources cast doubt on the claims, saying the man jailed in Kandahar might have been a different person with the same name. Mr Molins said Merah had visited Afghanistan twice. He gave no details of the first visit, but said that during his second trip last year, Merah was captured by Afghan forces and handed to the Americans, who put him on a plane back to France. But American officials told CNN that US forces had not dealt with Merah, and that the Afghans had handed him to French forces, who had returned him to France. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-17462604 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=f8d_1332361196 dietcokesucks French Gunman surrounded...and guess what? Al-quieda, french gunman, crime, tragedy, alert Wed, 21 Mar 2012 09:04:56 -0400 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=1b0_1332334619 aydeo French police reestablish contact with Mohammed Merah, suspected in Toulouse attack, evacuate building under siege. Suspect says he'll surrender this afternoon - France 24 quoted Merah as saying, "I will go to prison with my head held high or die with a smile. Nothing else." It is not clear how the station obtained the quote Three police officers injured in shoot-out. Meanwhile, the bodies of the four victims landed at the Ben-Gurion Airport on Wednesday morning. They were buried at the Givat Shaul cemetery in Jerusalem . Authorities believe that the gunman in Monday's school shooting was the same person responsible for killing three soldiers of North African origin in two shootings last week in Toulouse and the nearby town of Montauban. A third soldier, of Caribbean origin, remains in a coma. Latest Update: 03.21.12 A siege on a house in Toulouse where a 24-year-old man, a French national of Algerian decent with possible links to al-Qaeda, is holed is still ongoing. Mohammed Merah is suspected in the murder of four people, including three children, at a Jewish school in Toulouse on Monday. The suspect said he would turn himself in sometime on Wednesday afternoon. France 24 quoted Merah as saying, "I will go to prison with my head held high or die with a smile. Nothing else." It is not clear how the station obtained the quote. A police source said the raid began at 3 am local time (0200 GMT). Sky News reported that negotiations with the suspect have broken down and that officers are preparing to storm the house. At around 12:30 pm (Israel time) it was reported that security forces began evacuating the building in which the suspect is barricaded in. It remains unclear whether the evacuation was part of a plan by police to storm his residence. French Interior Minister Claude Gueant said Merah had at one point cut off contact with police surrounding his home. Police later reestablished contact with the suspect. Judicial officials said three of his relatives have been arrested. The suspect claims to be linked to al-Qaeda, Gueant said. "He claims to be a mujahideen and to belong to al-Qaeda," the minister told journalists at the scene of the siege. He also said the man had been in Afghanistan. "He wanted revenge for the Palestinian children and he also wanted to take revenge on the French army because of its foreign interventions," Gueant said. He said that police were also talking to the brother of the man who, Gueant said, was 24 years old. "Negotiations with the suspect are ongoing, gunfire has been exchanged," the minister said. Meanwhile, the BBC reported that investigators said was identified because of an email message he sent to his first victim. Minister Gueant said that France's President Nicolas Sarkozy had been informed of the situation at 03:00 am (0200 GMT), when the raid began. He said at least two police officers have been injured in the raid. One officer was injured in the knee and another officer lightly injured in ensuing exchanges of fire, Gueant said. Officers brought the suspect's mother to the scene and tried to get her to help negotiate, but she refused, saying "she had little influence on him," Gueant said. French news channel BFM TV said the suspects were linked to an Islamist group which it identified as Forsane Alizza. BFM said police were negotiating with a 24-year-old man inside the house. Heavily armed police in bullet-proof vests and helmets cordoned off the residential area where the raid was taking place, in a leafy suburb close to the Ozar Hatorah Jewish school where Monday's shootings took place. The French interior minister announced that the suspect said he would turn himself in sometime on Wednesday afternoon. The minister noted that police want to take him alive. He added that the suspect threw a handgun out window but has other arms. Meanwhile, the bodies of the four victims landed at the Ben-Gurion Airport on Wednesday morning. They will be buried at the Givat Shaul cemetery in Jerusalem at 10 am on Wednesday. Authorities believe that the gunman in Monday's school shooting was the same person responsible for killing three soldiers of North African origin in two shootings last week in Toulouse and the nearby town of Montauban. A third soldier, of Caribbean origin, remains in a coma. The same Colt 45 handgun was used in all three attacks and in each case the gunman arrived on a Yamaha scooter with his face hidden by a motorcycle helmet. http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=1b0_1332334619 aydeo Toulouse suspect: I'll die with a smile French police, contact, Mohammed Merah, Toulouse attack Wed, 21 Mar 2012 04:00:34 -0400 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=46d_1332316672 ElegantDecline French Police Surround House of Suspect in Toulouse Shootings By Phil Serafino and Tara Patel - Mar 21, 2012 6:55 AM GMT French police surrounded a house in Toulouse where a man suspected of killing four people at a Jewish school and three soldiers is holed up, Interior Minister Claude Gueant said. The 24-year-old man wanted to avenge attacks on Palestinian children, Gueant, whose ministry oversees law-enforcement agencies, said on LCI television. The man claiming ties to Al Qaeda spent time in the border regions of Afghanistan and Pakistan , Le Parisien reported, citing a person close to the investigation. French policemen wait near the place where French policemen, members of the RAID special weapons squad, attempt to arrest a suspected Al-Qaeda gunman on March 21, 2012 in Toulouse, southwestern France. Photograph: Eric Cabanis/AFP/Getty Images Two officers were injured when shots were exchanged with the suspect at the house in the Cote Pavee residential neighborhood of Toulouse, Sky News reported. Police asked the suspect's mother to negotiate with him, but she "said she has little influence over him," Gueant said. The school killings were the deadliest attacks on a Jewish target in France since 1982. The spree left a 17-year-old Jewish student seriously injured and a black soldier in a coma. The same weapon was used in all the attacks, President Nicolas Sarkozy said March 19. All the major candidates in France 's presidential election suspended their campaigns. In the March 19 school shootings, a teacher and his two children, ages three and six, and the eight-year-old daughter of the school's director were killed. The soldiers were killed March 11 in Toulouse and on March 15 in Montauban, 30 miles away. In all three attacks, the helmeted attacker arrived and left on the same stolen scooter. Police also carried out searches in other parts of the southwestern French city, LCI reported, citing police sources. The suspect's brother was arrested, Sky News reported, citing local officials. To contact the reporter on this story: Phil Serafino in Paris at pserafino@bloomberg.net ; Tara Patel in Paris at tpatel2@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Phil Serafino at pserafino@bloomberg.net http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=46d_1332316672 ElegantDecline French Police Surround House of Suspect in Toulouse Shootings France, shooting, war, on, terror Wed, 21 Mar 2012 02:36:05 -0400 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=f4c_1332310862 MB-UK French police searching for a gunman who shot dead four people at a Jewish school in Toulouse have surrounded a house in the north of the city. The man inside the building where the operation is taking place has claimed affiliation to al-Qaeda, Interior Minister Claude Gueant told reporters. Two police officers are reported injured in several exchanges of fire. The man's mother has been brought to the scene, Mr Gueant said, and his brother is under arrest. "The suspect's mother... was asked to make contact with her son, to reason with him, but she did not want to, saying she had little influence on him," Mr Gueant said. Mr Gueant told French TV that the man informed police he wanted to "avenge Palestinian children". The suspect also denounced French "crimes" in Afghanistan. "He was in the DCRI's sights, as were others, after the first two attacks," an unnamed official told Agence France-Presse, referring to France's domestic intelligence service. "Then the criminal investigation police brought in crucial evidence," the official added. Police wearing helmets and flak jackets have cordoned off the residential area of Toulouse where the raid is happening, an eyewitness told the Liberation newspaper. Prosecutors said other operations were underway to track down possible accomplices. Other emergency services are also in attendance. A huge manhunt has been under way in France amid fears the killer may strike again, after Monday's shooting, and the killing of three soldiers last week. Meanwhile, the funerals of the rabbi and three children killed in Monday's attack are due in Jerusalem in the coming hours. Israeli police said they expected thousands of people to attend. Also on Wednesday, French President Nicolas Sarkozy is to attend a memorial service for three soldiers killed in two attacks last week which police have linked to the Toulouse shootings. The same gun and the same scooter were used in all the attacks. All three soldiers killed were of North African descent. Another soldier from the French overseas region of Guadeloupe was left critically ill. The attacker gunned down Jonathan Sandler, a 30-year-old rabbi and teacher of religion, his two young sons Arieh and Gabriel and then - at point blank range - the head teacher's daughter, seven-year-old Myriam Monsonego, in Monday's attack at a Jewish school in Toulouse. Their bodies were carried out of Ozar Hatorah school on Tuesday in two black hearses and taken to a nearby airport, reported AFP. A military jet then flew them to Paris, from where they were placed on a commercial flight to Tel Aviv, AFP said. They have now arrived in Israel. French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe was to accompany the relatives of the dead to the funerals in Jerusalem. Mr Sarkozy and the Socialist presidential candidate Francois Hollande will attend the memorial service in Montauban for the three soldiers killed in last week's attacks. Marine Le Pen, the leader of the far-right Front National, will also be at the service. She is often associated with the more controversial debates on immigration and her presence will be closely observed in light of recent events, reports the BBC's Christian Fraser in Toulouse. On Tuesday schools across France held a moment's silence to remember the victims of the killer, whom President France Sarkozy branded a "monster". It is the first time in the country's history that the national terror alert has been raised to "scarlet", its highest level. The measure enables the authorities to disrupt daily life and implement sweeping security measures. These include mixed police-military patrols and powers to suspend public transport and close schools. Mr Gueant has said the killer had a camera strapped to his chest and may have filmed the shootings. http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=f4c_1332310862 MB-UK Police in pre-dawn raid on Toulouse shooting suspect french, attack, killings, murder, suspect, al-qaeda, toulouse, france, police, raid