Lawyer: French killer had split with wife

TOULOUSE, France -- The 23-year-old man who claimed responsibility for a killing spree in southern France had separated from his wife days before the attacks and was suffering "psychological difficulties," his lawyer said.

In an interview yesterday with The Associated Press, attorney Christian Etelin sought to portray his now-slain client as a "lone wolf" with no organized crime or terrorist connections and as "an abandoned child" angry at a long-absent father.

Police say Mohamed Merah filmed himself killing three Jewish schoolchildren, a rabbi and three paratroopers earlier this month and that he claimed he had links to al-Qaida. Merah was killed in a gunfight with police last week.

While French politicians have described Merah as an isolated killer, police are searching for potential accomplices.

Merah's brother is in custody, suspected of helping prepare the attacks. Questions about a possible "third man" intensified after officials said Merah was not the one who mailed a USB key with video of his killings to the Al-Jazeera news network.

Merah's body will be sent today from the southwest city of Toulouse to Algeria for burial, said Abdellatif Mellouki, regional leader for France's main Muslim organization, known as the CFCM. Merah was born in France and grew up in Toulouse, but his family is of Algerian origin and his father, who lives in Algeria, wants his body buried there.

Etelin said Merah got married in an Islamic ceremony in December, but the couple separated less than a week before the first attack. They had had no civil ceremony, which is required for the marriage to be recognized under French law.