Official: No sign French suspect had al-Qaida ties

[dipsydoodle]

Source: AP

PARIS (AP) -- French authorities have no evidence that al-Qaida commissioned a French gunman to go on a killing spree that left seven people dead, or that he had any contact with terrorist groups, a senior official said Friday.

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A senior official who is close to the investigation into Merah told The Associated Press there was no sign he had "trained or been in contact with organized groups or jihadists."

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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."

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Mancini told France-24 TV that "it wasn't the school that he wanted to attack," calling the school shooting "opportunistic."


Read more: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_FRANCE_TERRORISM?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2012-03-23-11-43-45

[Bruce Wayne]

1. But the radio said he was a Mujahideen!

Not surprisingly, the psychotic killer had a preening ego and delusions of grandiosity.