French police, shooting suspect in standoff

TOULOUSE, France -- Riot police set off explosions outside an apartment building early Thursday in an effort to force the surrender of a gunman who boasted of bringing France "to its knees" with an al-Qaida-linked terror spree that killed seven people.

Hundreds of heavily armed police, some in body armor, surrounded the five-story building where the suspect, Mohamed Merah, 24, had been holed up since the pre-dawn Wednesday.

As midnight approached, three explosions were heard and orange flashes lit up the night sky near the building.

An Interior Ministry official said the suspect had gone back on a previous pledge to turn himself in, and police then blew up the shutters on the apartment window to pressure him to surrender.

Hours later, two new blasts and a burst of gunfire were heard, though officials said no full-out assault was under way.

"It's not as simple as that. We are waiting," the Toulouse prosecutor, Michel Valet, told The Associated Press.

Authorities said the shooter, a French citizen of Algerian descent, had been to Afghanistan and Pakistan, where he said he received training from al-Qaida.

They said he told negotiators he killed a rabbi and three young children at a Jewish school on Monday and three French paratroopers last week to avenge the deaths of Palestinian children and to protest the French army's involvement in Afghanistan, as well as a government ban last year on face-covering Islamic veils.

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

French authorities, like others in Europe, have long been concerned about "lone-wolf" attacks by Internet-savvy militants who self-radicalize online as they are harder to find. Still, it was the first time a radical Islamic motive has been ascribed to killings in France in years.

Merah espoused a radical brand of Islam and had also been to Waziristan in Pakistani for training, Molins said.

He said the suspect had plans to kill another soldier, prompting the police raid.

A police attempt around 3 a.m. to detain Merah erupted into a firefight, injuring two police.

Negotiations with the suspect after that lasted into the night.