Toulouse Shooting: France Investigates Mohamed Merah's Possible Accomplices, Cracks Down On Terrorist Activities

France's President Nicolas Sarkozy delivers his speech on the Toulouse gunman, at the Elysee Palace in Paris, Wednesday, March 21, 2012. (AP Photo/Francois Mori, Pool)

PARIS (AP) - French President Nicolas Sarkozy says that French who visit Internet sites supporting terrorism will be punished by law, a new measure in a crackdown following the 32-hour standoff with a Frenchman claiming al-Qaida ties suspected in three deadly attacks.

Sarkozy spoke on Thursday after authorities announced the death in the southwest city of Toulouse of Mohamed Merah, 23, who jumped from a window firing his weapon as police moved in after a 32-hour standoff.

The French president said that an investigation is under way to see if the suspect in the series of radical Islam-inspired killings had any accomplices.

Seven people were killed in nine days in the Toulouse area - three paratroopers, a rabbi and three young children at a Jewish school.

Merah had traveled to Afghanistan and Pakistan for training, officials said.

"All was done to bring the killer to justice, but it was inconceivable to risk lives ... There have already been too many deaths," Sarkozy said after a meeting with the defense, justice and foreign ministers.

He announced a new crackdown in France on the spread of terrorist-linked ideologies and activities.

Anyone who regularly visits "websites which support terrorism or call for hate or violence will be punished by the law," Sarkozy said. He promised a crackdown on anyone who goes abroad "for the purposes of indoctrination in terrorist ideology."

The president appealed to the French not to confuse terrorism and Islam.

France's Muslims "had nothing to do with the crazy motive of a terrorist," he said, referring to the nation's estimated 5 million Muslims, the largest such population in western Europe.

Police said, during hours of negotiations Wednesday when the standoff first began, Merah admitted to being proud of the seven slayings he carried out in three shooting attacks in the Toulouse region. They are believed to be the first killings inspired by Islamic radical motives in France in more than a decade.

Authorities said Merah, a French citizen of Algerian descent, espoused a radical form of Islam and had been to Afghanistan and the Pakistani militant stronghold of Waziristan, where he claimed to have received training from al-Qaida.

@AP
The Associated Press

BREAKING: French prosecutor says Toulouse gunman Mohamed Merah filmed killings of Jewish children, paratroopers. -AB

March 22, 2012 1:50 pm via SocialFlow Reply Retweet Favorite

@AP
The Associated Press

French prosecutor says Toulouse gunman Merah suspected in killing spree was shot in the head: http://t.co/jPgACdEk -AB

March 22, 2012 1:55 pm via SocialFlow Reply Retweet Favorite

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Comments

[Yank in France]

09:33 AM on 03/23/2012

My reaction to Sarkozy's proposals is two-fold: First, I agree with the sentiment to repress Islamic terrorist activity; (2) Second, Sarkozy is a lawyer whose long record, prior to and during his presidency, show that he believes that there is no problem than cannot be solved by passing a new law!!

In short, Sarkozy is right in his desire to make life more difficult for Islamic radicals in his country, but there is no way in H€ll that a law to prohibit people from watching Islamist web sites could be enforced! Moreover, making such activity illegal will only increase their allure!!!

This truth also applies to the law making denial of the Turkish genocide of Armenians a crime punishable by jail time and a huge five-figure fine. There are laws banning all sorts of hate speech and the govt even wants to pass a law prohibiting parents from spanking their children.

But that is Europe for you, my friends: Lives are framed much more by the law in the old continent than in America. In fact, the two models represents extreme polar opposites. It would be nice if America were to ban dealers from selling high-powered guns and rifles to drug gangs (indirectly) just as it would be good if France were to continue its tough gun control laws but lighten up big time on its anti-free speech laws!!

[lightningbolt]

08:07 AM on 03/23/2012

"They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety." Benjamin Franklin

[lightningbolt]

08:00 AM on 03/23/2012

The first reaction of any right wing government to a terrorist attack is to take away civil liberties. This is why right wingers are dangerous to our liberty and bad at national security.

[tbone747]

09:47 AM on 03/23/2012

LOL, look at what Obama is trying to do to the 4th Amendment. Wave to the drones that will be circling. Goes both ways doesnt it.

[lightningbolt]

10:19 AM on 03/23/2012

The republican Congress forced him to sign the NDAA by bundling it with a must-pass defense budget.  Obama issued a signing statement that will temporarily protect us from the NDAA's Constitutional violations, but that signing statement is only good as long as Obama is President.  We must elect a Democratic majority so that they can turn back the heinous laws that have been forced upon us by the the republicans.

[doriath22]

08:41 AM on 03/24/2012

Drone-jamming technology is relatively inexpensive and easy to build. There's no need to be passive sheep, folks

[lightningbolt]

07:56 AM on 03/23/2012

Punishing people for viewing websites is wrong and undemocratic, no matter how horrible the website is.  Who determines what is a terrorist website and what is not?  What if this law is used by the government to suppress dissent?  If freedom of speech is reduced, the terrorists have won.

[flashfyre]

03:13 AM on 03/23/2012

The linkage between people visiting websites, reading material, and one person going bonkers sounds kind of weak.

That's why certain levels of speech, even if upsetting or annoying, are protected by the 1st amendment here in the good ol' USA. Even the founders knew that.

Besides, it makes a great honeypot for the watch lists.

[ectullis]

02:08 AM on 03/23/2012

Like any disease you must treat the cause not the symptom.

[Yank in France]

09:35 AM on 03/23/2012

Yes, and look both ways before you cross the street too!

[juststeve35]

12:08 AM on 03/23/2012

Why would he think the French people would confuse terrorism and Islam...

There is terrorism... and there is Islam...

Of course,

there is always,

Islamic Terrorism!

You let five million of them infect your country and use your liberal socialism against you...

You may want to start taking a stronger stance, eh?

[doriath22]

08:43 AM on 03/24/2012

A handful of nuts out of five million? Doesn't sound any worse than the Teabaggers to me

[lawr2011]

11:17 PM on 03/22/2012

Looks liks France is waking up.

[ectullis]

02:09 AM on 03/23/2012

Lets hope we do too.

[Matt12]

10:48 PM on 03/22/2012

The answer is to pressure Israel to return stolen land, and compensate families that were displaced. As long as Netanyahu continues to insist on appropriating Palestinian land, nothing will change. At the same time, the US government should jail those individuals who brought the economy to the ditch.

[juststeve35]

12:10 AM on 03/23/2012

Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight....

[KarateKid]

10:20 PM on 03/22/2012

Hey, Nick, you ever hear of proxy servers???

[KarateKid]

10:19 PM on 03/22/2012

He's not thinking with his brain. But then, when does he?

[max pain]

10:18 PM on 03/22/2012

Any website that promotes hate, violence, and terrorism, should be shut down, note just Islamic sites.

[lightningbolt]

07:58 AM on 03/23/2012

If we eliminate freedom of speech, the terrorists win.  Hatred has been around long before the Internet.  People commit crimes, not ideas.

[AIlegroTroppo]

10:11 PM on 03/22/2012

We must throw out al the Saudi, Tirkish, Kuwait and Pakistani Salafist, Wahhabist and ultra-fundamentalist clerics who built are the foundation of the continued unwillingness of some many young Muslims to assimilate to modern European cultural standards.

[bayoulivn]

09:45 PM on 03/22/2012

Maybe corrupt gov's around the world make these things happen on purpose to keep terror on everybody's minds? We are running out of oil an corrupt govs will do anything to take control of the oil supply to rule the world. Without oil we lose, cant do anything without it

[altheschrod]

09:14 PM on 03/22/2012

EVERY European country must become vigilant, because crackpot people claiming to honor Islam are treated too lightly. Good Muslims are suffering for this, and they must join with the local police to eliminate those monsters. There is no place in modern societies for ignorant killers claiming religion and causing mayhem.

[AIlegroTroppo]

10:01 PM on 03/22/2012

Good post.