Toulouse siege: ‘al-Qaeda militant is schizophrenic’

The man specifically requested the presence of the Raid unit of elite armed
police that killed Merah, a self-style al-Qaeda militant, on 22 March.

The streets near the bank were cordoned off by elite police officers
from the GIPN brigade (AP)

The sister of the hostage taker told local media that “my brother is enraged”.
“He was placed in Ddass (care of the social services) when he was little,
has the rage and is afraid of the outside world,” she said.

Thursday’s hostage-taking began about 11 a.m. (0900GMT) at a CIC bank branch
in central Toulouse, a Toulouse police official said. The official said a
single shot was fired but no injuries have been reported so far. A second
shot was later heard at the scene.

The neighborhood around the bank was cordoned off. Calls to the CIC bank
branch went unanswered.

The hostages include the bank branch director and two others. The man asked
for the Raid unit to be involved in the hostage negotiations.

Four months ago paramilitary Raid officers led a 32-hour standoff with Merah,
before he was killed by a shot to the head after a gunfight.

French authorities described Merah as an Islamic radical who had trained in
Afghanistan and Pakistan.

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