French Police Investigate Video of Toulouse Attacks

At the Wall Street Journal (via Google):

PARIS — French police are investigating whether the suspected killer of seven people in and around Toulouse was able to mail a video of his attacks to television news channel al-Jazeera before barricading himself into his apartment, or whether the package was sent by someone else.

The Qatari-based channel said it received a video on Monday at its Paris office showing the killings of three soldiers in two separate attacks, and the shooting death at point-blank range of three children and a teacher at a private Jewish school in the southern French city.

Mohamed Merah, the suspected killer who was himself shot dead by police on Thursday after a 33-hour siege of his Toulouse apartment, used a camera strapped to his chest to record footage of the attacks, prosecutors have said.

"There is full footage of the three attacks, mixed with religious chants and Quranic verses as well as footage from the Middle East showing Palestinian children," said al-Jazeera's Paris bureau chief, Zied Tarrouche, who has viewed the film. "The video is very disturbing, horrible," Mr. Tarrouche said. He said the footage had been edited and was "broadcast ready."

Al-Jazeera said it handed the parcel's contents to the police and kept a copy of the video, which it decided not to air.

"Given the video does not add any information that is not already in the public domain, [al-Jazeera's] news channels will not be broadcasting any of its contents," said Osama Saeed, a spokesman for the group.

See also, New York Times, "Al Jazeera Decides Against Showing Video Made by Gunman in Toulouse," and Telegraph UK, "Al-Jazeera decides not to air video of Toulouse attacks."