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TERRORISM

French prosecutors seek life in jail for brother of jihadist who killed Jewish children

Prosecutors in the trial of the brother of the Islamist radical who shot dead seven people including three Jewish children in southwest France in 2012 called Monday for him to be jailed for life.

French prosecutors seek life in jail for brother of jihadist who killed Jewish children
The Paris courthouse before the opening of the trial of Abdelkader Merah. Photo: AFP
Abdelkader Merah, 35, should be ineligible for parole for 22 years, prosecutor Naima Rudloff told the court as the trial that began on October 2 reached its final phase.
   
He was accused of knowingly facilitating his brother Mohamed Merah's attackon a Jewish school in Toulouse in which a rabbi, two of the rabbi's children aged three and five and an eight-year-old girl were killed.
   
The attack, which Merah carried out in the name of Al-Qaeda, was the deadliest on Jews in France in three decades and the first of a wave of violence by homegrown jihadists that has killed more than 200 people.
 
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Brother of French jihadist fights radicalisationAbdelghani Merah, who is trying to make sure no one becomes like his brother Mohamed. Photo: AFP

Over the course of his nine-day killing spree, Merah also shot dead three soldiers based in the nearby garrison town of Montauban before police killed him after a 32-hour siege of his home.  

Abdelkader was charged with helping Mohamed, 23 at the time, to steal the motor scooter and jacket he used during the killing spree.
   
Abdelkader was also accused of belonging to an offshoot of Al-Qaeda and following the group's “teachings and operational advice”.
   
Investigators believe Abdelkader had considerable influence over his brother.
 
Defending him in 2012, the elder Merah had said: “Every Muslim would like to give his life to kill his enemy.”
   
Prosecutors say the pair were repeatedly in contact in the days before the shootings.
   
Rudloff said a second defendant, Fettah Malki, also charged with complicity, should get 20 years behind bars.
   
The 34-year-old was accused of supplying Mohamed Merah with a machine pistol, ammunition and a bullet-proof vest.
   
Neither man denies helping the gunman obtain materials but claim they were unaware of his intentions.
   
A verdict is expected Thursday.

TERRORISM

Italian police arrest Algerian wanted for alleged IS ties

Police in Milan said on Thursday they had arrested a 37-year-old Algerian man in the subway, later discovering he was wanted for alleged ties to Islamic State.

Italian police arrest Algerian wanted for alleged IS ties

When stopped by police officers for a routine check, the man became “particularly aggressive”, said police in Milan, who added the arrest took place “in recent days”.

He was “repeatedly shouting ‘Allahu Akbar’ while attempting to grab from his backpack an object that turned out to be a knife with a blade more than 12cm (nearly five inches) long,” they said in a statement.

The man was later found to be wanted by authorities in Algeria, suspected since 2015 of belonging to “Islamic State militias and employed in the Syrian-Iraqi theatre of war,” police said.

Police said the suspect was unknown to Italian authorities.

The man is currently in Milan’s San Vittore prison and awaiting extradition, they added.

Jihadist group IS proclaimed a “caliphate” in 2014 across swathes of Syria and Iraq, launching a reign of terror that continues with hit-and-run attacks and ambushes.

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