Toulouse killer's father to sue France for son's death

Paris, March 27 (IANS) The father of Mohammed Merah, who claimed responsibility for killing seven people before he was shot dead by police after a 30-hour siege, said he intends to sue France for the death of his son, Sky News reported Tuesday.

Merah, a French citizen of Algerian descent, was killed last Thursday when police stormed the apartment where he was holed up, reported RIA Novosti.

His father, Benalel Mohamed Merah, said police could have used gas and capture him alive, but "they preferred to kill him".

"I will hire the biggest named lawyers and work for the rest of my life to pay (their) costs. I will sue France for having killing my son," Sky News quoted Benalel Mohamed Merah as saying.

Last week Christian Prouteau, the founder of the GIGN, an elite French police unit that was not involved in the Toulouse operation, questioned the way it was carried out. He asked why police had not used tear gas and expressed surprise that they had failed to capture him alive.

The gunman was suspected of shooting dead three children and a rabbi at a Jewish school in Toulouse last week, and also shooting three soldiers of North African descent in Montauban two weeks ago. He is also suspected of shooting two off-duty soldiers in Toulouse in an earlier incident.

French Foreign Minister Allan Juppe called for a probe into whether the Toulouse killing spree was the result of possible mistakes by the French special services.