Toulouse killer’s father to sue France for son’s death
March 27th, 2012 - 1:14 pm ICT by IANSParis, March 27 (IANS) The father of Mohammed Merah, who claimed responsibility for killing seven people before he was shot dead by police after a 30-hour siege, said he intends to sue France for the death of his son, Sky News reported Tuesday.
Merah, a French citizen of Algerian descent, was killed last Thursday when police stormed the apartment where he was holed up, reported RIA Novosti.
His father, Benalel Mohamed Merah, said police could have used gas and capture him alive, but “they preferred to kill him”.
“I will hire the biggest named lawyers and work for the rest of my life to pay (their) costs. I will sue France for having killing my son,” Sky News quoted Benalel Mohamed Merah as saying.
Last week Christian Prouteau, the founder of the GIGN, an elite French police unit that was not involved in the Toulouse operation, questioned the way it was carried out. He asked why police had not used tear gas and expressed surprise that they had failed to capture him alive.
The gunman was suspected of shooting dead three children and a rabbi at a Jewish school in Toulouse last week, and also shooting three soldiers of North African descent in Montauban two weeks ago. He is also suspected of shooting two off-duty soldiers in Toulouse in an earlier incident.
French Foreign Minister Allan Juppe called for a probe into whether the Toulouse killing spree was the result of possible mistakes by the French special services.
- French killer said he posted murder videos on web - Mar 23, 2012
- French gunman killed after 30-hour siege (Lead) - Mar 23, 2012
- French killings arrest denied (Second Lead) - Mar 22, 2012
- French shooting suspect killed - Mar 22, 2012
- Cops surround French shootings' suspect - Mar 21, 2012
- France observes minute of silence for shooting victims - Mar 20, 2012
- Three killed in French school shooting (Lead) - Mar 19, 2012
- France launches manhunt for killer - Mar 20, 2012
- Four die in shooting outside school in France (Second Lead) - Mar 19, 2012
- Mission in Paris at full security alert, says India - May 18, 2012
- Al Qaeda man takes hostages in France (Lead) - Jun 20, 2012
- France rules out military intervention in Mali - Apr 03, 2012
- US citizen held in Spain for funding Al Qaeda - Sep 30, 2010
- French shooting suspect held (Lead) - Mar 21, 2012
- France asks Pakistan to prevent terror strikes - Oct 21, 2011
Tags: african descent, duty soldiers, french citizen, french foreign minister, french police, gign, gunman, jewish school, killing spree, last thursday, mohamed, mohammed, paris march, police unit, rabbi, rest of my life, ria novosti, sky news, tear gas, three soldiers