'I brought France to its knees' French shooter declared before death

By Catholic Online (NEWS CONSORTIUM)
3/23/2012
Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)

Militant Islam went on shooting spree, killing seven

A suspected al-Qaeda trained militant who went on a shooting spree in France that killed seven people has come to a violent end in a police shootout. Mohammed Merah was fatally shot in the head after commandos opened fire after he shot at them.

Mohammed Merah had cited a variety of reasons for the killings, including France's ban on the wearing of Islamic veils, the missions of its troops abroad and the oppression of Palestinians.

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LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - The 23-year-old Merah emerged from a bathroom wearing a bulletproof vest in his apartment and fired more than 30 shots at police, as they rushed in to stop a standoff that lasted more than 31 hours, Paris prosecutor Francois Molins said.

Merah jumped out a window, still shooting, and was found dead on the ground, Interior Minister Claude Gueant said. Merah had only two bullets left in his gun when he was killed. He originally said he would surrender to police, but later vowed that he would resist and kill anyone who tried to take him into custody.

Merah was wanted in the killings of three French paratroopers, a rabbi and three children ages 4, 5, and 7 in a shooting spree that began March 11 and ended this week with the slaying of the rabbi and the children at a Jewish school in Toulouse.

Merah had cited a variety of reasons for the killings, including France's ban on the wearing of Islamic veils, the missions of its troops abroad and the oppression of Palestinians.

A police investigation turned up video recordings of the attacks, ammunition and ingredients for explosives after he was killed, Molins said.

In the video of the first shooting of a French soldier in Toulouse, Merah told the soldier, "You kill my brothers, I kill you." In another video showing how he gunned down two more French soldiers in Montauban, Merah is heard saying "Allahu Akbar," or God is great. Merah claimed to have posted the videos online, but investigations haven't yet found any conclusive evidence.

Merah had trained with al Qaeda in Pakistan's Waziristan region, bordering Afghanistan, and also spent time in Afghanistan.

Christian Etelin, a lawyer who represented Merah in an earlier incident involving a traffic accident, also said Merah went to Afghanistan two years ago. Etelin said that Merah was psychologically damaged.

"He was completely cut off from reality," Etelin told TV journalists.

Merah had been under surveillance by French intelligence for years, Interior Minister Gueant said. He had "already committed certain infractions, some with violence," Gueant said.

Gueant said Merah "wanted to avenge Palestinian children and take revenge on the French army because of its foreign interventions."

Merah belonged to a group called Forsane Alizza, or Knights of Glory. The French government banned the group in January for trying to recruit people to fight in Afghanistan. The group issued a "chilling warning" on its Facebook page before it was banned this year, calling on supporters to attack Americans, Jews and French soldiers.

A French citizen of Algerian origin, Merah had boasted to police negotiators he had brought France to its knees and said his only regret was not having been able to carry out his plans for more killings.

"He has no regrets, except not having more time to kill more people and he boasts that he has brought France to its knees," Molins told a news conference.

� 2012, Catholic Online. Distributed by NEWS CONSORTIUM.

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Pope Benedict XVI's Prayer Intentions for January 2013
General Intention: The Faith of Christians. That in this Year of Faith Christians may deepen their knowledge of the mystery of Christ and witness joyfully to the gift of faith in him.
Missionary Intention: Middle Eastern Christians. That the Christian communities of the Middle East, often discriminated against, may receive from the Holy Spirit the strength of fidelity and perseverance.

Keywords: Mohammed Merah, French, al-Qaeda, shooting spree, terrorism

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1 - 4 of 4 Comments

Robert Burford
1 year ago
In 2004 my wife and I went to France in November. The weather was beautiful and the people were generous and friendly. Our simple French and a warm smile met people on common ground. We only had one bad experience. It was a metro toll booth employee who was an immagrant from North Africa.These people came to work for the French and now have little or no work and are the jobless poor of their society. The economic diferences between the Islamic poor of France and the rest of the society have caused unrest. The roots are based in economic disparity. At the time we left France there were riots in the slum sections of Paris. The news was full of it and we did not understand the reasons until we spoke to our landlord. It is clear that the reasons this deranged young man did what he did was partly his Islamic belief but also joblessness and hopelessness. It is a class struggle between the haves and the have nots.Islamist terrorists use their belief as an excuse for violence in the name of Islam.Jesus said their would be false prophets, but He also gave us the great commission in Matthew 28:17-20 to make diciples of all the world. We have a lot of work to do in the Islamic community to convince them that they follow a false prophet. My heart goes out to the victims and my prayers are for everyone concerned.
Gabriella
1 year ago
My heart goes out to the wife and family of the slain Rabbi and his two children as well as the child of the Principal of the school. How tragic, that these people had to die in such a manner by a sick, distorted, evil minded young man. Where are his parents, his mother and his father?
God give the Rabbi's wife peace and strength to go on. It must be so very difficult for her to think of the loved ones who will never again come home into her arms.
elcid
1 year ago
@Marie....you assume all religions are the same then? I consider islam a false religion for mainly a couple of reasons (1) supposedly the angel Gabriel appeared to muhammad and pretty much told him to start a new religion which would be the true one and also to denied the divinity of Christ, of course this same angel appeared to the Virgin Mary and told her she would conceive the son of God, a contrary I would think. (2) if islam believes that Christ is not the son of God then he would be a false prophet, maybe a wacko...but islam considers him one of the great prophets.
As far as muhammad and islam in general, there are desputes on whether there were some initial satanic verses in the koran, history does show that the early arabs that muhammad tried to convert to islam were worshiping false idols in the desert so I don't think it would be too far fetch to think the satanic verses that refer to some of these idols are true.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satanic_verses
Marie Jackson
1 year ago
It is so sad that some religions misconstrue Gods love and purpose for the human race. The lawyer claims this man was psychotic, but who wouldn't be if trained under AlQueda? I pray for these extremists to see Gods true Glory and His Love for his human race, and to find the peace that is so needed among mankind.

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