Ajarn Donald's Blog

Police officers stand near a building in Toulouse, France , March 21, 2012, where a suspect in the shooting at the Ozar Hatorah Jewish school is barricaded in an apartment building . ( AP Photo )   France - After a pre-dawn raid erupted into a firefight, French riot police pressed Wednesday for the surrender of a holed-up gunman who is suspected in seven killings and claiming allegiance to al Qaeda . A prosecutor said the man was planning to kill another soldier imminently. After 13 hours of negotiations, one French official said hundreds of police were ready to storm the building in the southwestern city of Toulouse to end the standoff. Three police have already been wounded trying to arrest the 24-year-old Frenchman of Algerian descent who is suspected of killing three Jewish children, a rabbi and three French paratroopers. Prosecutor Francois Molins said the gunman, Mohamed Merah, had been to Afghanistan twice and had trained in the Pakistani militant stronghold of Wazir...

One of the biggest manhunts in recent French history is under way after four people were shot dead at a Jewish school in Toulouse . Police have linked the attack to two shootings last week in which three soldiers of North African descent died. The same gun and the same stolen scooter were used in all three attacks, sources close to the investigation say. Thousands of people marched through the streets Paris on Monday evening in memory of the victims. All schools in France will observe a minute's silence on Tuesday morning at 11:00 (10:00 GMT ). Investigations are pursuing two main lines of inquiry - an Islamist motive or the far right. President Nicolas Sarkozy , who flew to Toulouse after the attack, described it as a "national tragedy". He said a single person had carried out all three attacks and that an "anti-Semitic motive" seemed obvious. Guards are to be posted outside all faith-based schools, as well as all Jewish and Muslim religious buildings, he...