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France 2 via AP
Mohamed Merah shown in this image from French TV station France 2
Mohamed Merah, the gunman who killed seven people including three Jewish children, may have been an informant for France's intelligence services, according to reports that raise further questions about whether authorities missed chances to prevent the attacks.
The 23-year-old, who is a French citizen of Algerian origin, shot dead three Muslim soldiers as well as three children and a rabbi at a Jewish school before being slain by police commandos at the end of a 32-hour standoff in an apartment in Toulouse.
It later emerged Merah had traveled to Afghanistan and Israel in 2010 and had been interviewed in November 2011 by the domestic intelligence agency Direction Centrale du Renseignement Intérieur (DCRI).
Bernard Squarcini, head of the agency, was quoted by French newspaper Le Monde as saying Merah asked for a local DCRI agent by name while he was holed-up in the apartment surrounded by police.
Father of Toulouse gunman wants to sue France for killing son
Squarcini told Le Monde that Merah shocked the female agent by saying: "Anyway, I was going to call you to say I had some tip-offs for you, but actually I was going to [kill] you.”
Merah, who told police he had been inspired to commit his attacks by al-Qaida, used the French word "fumer", which means "to smoke," which is a slang term that also means to "murder" or "waste."
Squarcini’s remarks to Le Monde were reported in other French media, including Liberation and Le Figaro.
'Not trivial'
Yves Bonnet, former head of an intelligence agency that was merged with DCRI in 2008, told Toulouse newspaper La Dépêche du Midi that it was significant that Merah appeared to have a regular contact at the DCRI. “Having a contact is not totally innocent,” he told the newspaper. “This is not trivial.”
Italian newspaper Il Foglio said Merah’s trip to Israel and Afghanistan in September 2010 was made with the knowledge of the French foreign secret service, the Direction Générale de la Sécurité Extérieure. However, London's Independent newspaper quoted a spokesman for the agency as dismissing that report as "grotesque".
Squarcini has since insisted Merah was not helping authorities, telling Liberation the gunman was not "an informer for the DCRI or any other French or foreign services."
Meanwhile, Merah’s body will be flown to Algeria on Thursday if the country agrees to receive it, an official at one of the biggest mosques in Paris told Reuters.
Abdallah Zekri said Merah's body was being kept at a hospital in Toulouse while Algerian authorities decided whether they were willing to receive it. French media had reported that Merah's father had requested burial in Algeria.
On Tuesday, Merah's father, Mohamed Benalen Merah, lashed out at French authorities for killing his son. The elder Merah, who lives in Algeria, had earlier said he wanted to sue France.
"France is a powerful country with huge resources," Merah told France 24 television. "They could have taken him while he slept. They could have used a sleep-inducing gas and taken him like a baby. Why were they so hasty? Why did they kill him?"
"They could have arrested him and had him face justice," he added.
However, the BBC said French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe responded: "If I were the father of such a monster, I would shut my mouth in shame.”
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Leave a Comment:
" "They could have arrested him and had him face justice," he added. "
Typical Muslim.
Or someone who believes that everyone deserves their day in court.
To 99% of the Middle East he is view as a Hero. Islam the Religion of Peace Bull@!$%#.
is that why algeria wont take his body? this is why the world labels americansare dumb fat and stupid, bcause of people like you. clown
And you would know this how?
Algeria first needs to build a parking lot for the pilgrims they would have to anticipate.
(for you nit-pickers out there, that's a metaphor for "there are certain issues to be settled before pproviding refuge for the carcass of a shahid.")
The Algerians gotta be jealous of the "West-bankers"...all they have to do is change a few street signs.
'Traveled to Israel in 2010' - That should tell you all you need to know.
What should it tell me? That Israel allowed a man with a French passport in?
America is a free country everbody has a say so no matter what they say.
To Bterzian:
Why don't you let us know, "That's all you need to know." 'Traveled to Israel in 2010.'
Because he doesn't know.
As a warning to other similarly minded simians, Merah's body---rather than being returned to Algeria---should be submersed in lard and fed to dogs.
I wish that the media would stop trying to make this case something that it's not. Next they'll try to blame the gunman for suicide bombings or such.
They had to kill this guy so he wouldn't expose their failures. Looks like it may come out anyway. If y'all think this is just a simple, cut and dried terrorist case then you are fooling yourselves. This rabbit hole goes WAY down.
France should sue the mu slime of a father for producing suck a POS in the first place. Just burn this guys body and toss it in the local land fill for insects to eat as that is what he deserves. As a mater of fact let us give the mu slimes a taste of their own medicine. We need to start shoot people outside of mosques. mu slime schools, etc. Shocking is it not? Frankly I DO NOT mean this but if it gets the attention of muslims to keep thier cult in check then so be it. Honestly I am glad he is dead and the taxpayers of France will not have to support this scumbag while incarcerated.
If he had been "working with" the French intelligence agency on any level, will this be the catalyst that makes them objectively analyze Islamic principles of jihad? Will it prevent them from being so politically correct as to enable jihad? Will they start to act like an "intelligence" agency in this time of Muslim Brotherhood global jihad?
all religions are evil; they are the cause of all the bad stuff going on in the world; humans are the only species in the magnificant universe who do not know how to live in harmony with nature; how can muslims defend themselves while at the same time having their women totally covered in any weather while the men walk around in t-@!$%#s and shorts; how can there be catholic priests not being allowed to be married however comitting crimes against thousands of children by sexually abusing them, disgusting; how can protestants and catholics in ireland kill each other in the name of religion; how can jews toatlly disregard the need of a palestinean state; if the so called good muslim want to be dis-connected from the radical muslims why dont they do something about it and eliminate this cancer; at present most of the evil and killings in this world is being carried out by radical muslims however without too much condemnation from the good muslim side; we all know that muslims top a staggering one billion out of the world population however what muslims forget is that a few americans and a few russians are holding the world 's fate in their hand by a flip of a switch, better watch out and dont get out of hand or you will get burned real, real bad; at last we can only hope that Mohamed Merah is now in heaven enjoying his 16virgins and hopefully his father will get his licking in court when trying to sue the french government for his looser son
Taken alive is the best the French could have done. Now he is dead with all sectrets.