France shooting: Gunman Mohamed Merah had no links to al-Qaeda

THERE is no evidence that al-Qaeda commissioned a French gunman to go on a killing spread that left seven people dead, French authorities have said.

A senior French official also said there was no suggestion that he had any contact with terrorist groups.

The official, who is close to the investigation into the attacks by 23-year-old Mohamed Merah, said there is no sign he had “trained or been in contact with organized groups or jihadists.”

Merah was killed in a gunfight with police Thursday after a 32-hour standoff with police. Prosecutors said he filmed himself carrying out three attacks since March 11, killing three Jewish schoolchildren, a rabbi and three French paratroopers with close-range shots to the head.

He had travelled to Afghanistan and Pakistan, and prosecutors said he had claimed contacts with al-Qaida and to have trained in the Pakistan militant stronghold of Waziristan. He had been on a U.S. no-fly list since 2010.

The official said Merah might have made the claim because al-Qaida is a well-known “brand.” The official said authorities have “absolutely no element allowing us to believe that he was commissioned by al-Qaida to carry out these attacks.”

A little-known jihadist group claimed responsibility for the killings, but the official said the claim appeared opportunistic and that authorities think Merah had never heard of the group.

Investigators looking for possible accomplices decided Friday to keep Merah’s older brother, his mother and the brother’s girlfriend in custody for another day for further questioning, the Paris prosecutor’s office said.