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An unidentified man with his head covered, believed to be Abdelkader Merah or his companion, sits between masked police officers as they head to the French police's anti-terrorist headquarters Christophe Ena/AP/Press Association Images

France: Gunman's brother charged over murders

Abdelkader Merah, 29, is suspected of complicity in murder, theft, and involvement in terrorism in connection with the deaths of seven people in France.

THE BROTHER OF a man who shot dead seven people in three separate attacks in France has been charged over the murders, according to French police.

Abdelkader Merah, 29, is suspected of complicity in murder, theft, and involvement in terrorism. Investigators are also investigating whether the brothers were linked to an international network of extremists or worked on their own.

Abdelkader’s lawyer said he feels like “a scapegoat.”

“No one knew anything” about what Mohamed was plotting, lawyer Anne-Sophie Laguens told reporters in Paris. She dismissed reports that Abdelkader had praised his brother’s attacks. “He was never proud of those actions.”

Mohamed Merah, 23, claimed responsibility for killing three Jewish schoolchildren, a rabbi and three paratroopers earlier this month. After a 32-hour standoff with police, he died Thursday in a hail of gunfire as he jumped out a window of his apartment in the southern city of Toulouse.

Since then, attention has focused on his older brother Abdelkader Merah, who was handed preliminary charges on Sunday of complicity to murder and theft, and involvement in a terrorist enterprise, prosecutors said. Detained last week, he will remain in custody pending further investigation.

Allegations of financing trips to Afghanistan

Preliminary charges under French law mean there is strong reason to believe a crime was committed, but allow magistrates more time to investigate.

Authorities suspect Abdelkader had a role in acquiring his younger brother’s arsenal and financing his trips to Afghanistan, Pakistan and the Middle East. Mohamed Merah claimed allegiance to al-Qaeda and told police he traveled to Afghanistan and Pakistan for training.

Abdelkader was questioned several years ago about alleged links to a network sending Toulouse-area youths to Iraq, but no action was brought against him at the time.

Prosecutor Francois Molins said the inquiry is also looking at anyone else who could have been involved in planning the attacks.

The brother’s girlfriend, Yamina Mesbah, was held, then released early Sunday without being charged. The Merah brothers’ mother was released Friday night.

The girlfriend denied any involvement in what happened and said she was shocked by the killings, her lawyer Guy Debuisson said, adding that Abdelkader Merah appeared to have led a double life.

“This woman was unaware of anything about her husband’s accessory, complementary or secret life,” the lawyer said. The couple married according to Muslim custom in 2006, but did not undergo the civil ceremony required in France for a marriage to be recognised.

Abdelkader took five or six trips to Egypt

Abdelkader Merah took five or six long trips to Egypt, ostensibly to study Arabic literature, and his girlfriend joined him on two or three, the lawyer said.

During questioning by police, the lawyer said, Mesbah learned that Merah had had other motivations for his trip to Egypt and “a life that led him toward an extremely intense … fundamentalism.”

“The question to ask today is if Mohamed was the only one that was indoctrinated. Was it just him or are there others?” Debuisson asked.

The first paratrooper killed, Imad Ibn Ziaten, was buried Sunday in his hometown in Morocco on the Mediterranean coast. Townspeople held French and Moroccan flags as soldiers carried the coffin to the grave.

“It is incomprehensible, it is unimaginable. Terrorism doesn’t understand this. And above all we must not confuse Islam and fanaticism. They have nothing to do with one another,” his brother Hatim Ibn Ziaten said.

France is ‘in mourning’

French State Secretary for Defense Marc Laffineur accompanied the family to Morocco, saying he wanted to show that “France is in mourning.” The other paratroopers were buried in France last week, and the Jewish children and rabbi were buried in Israel.

The killings have affected the race for French presidential elections in April and May, and raised concerns of tensions among France’s large Muslim and Jewish communities.

Thousands of people in Paris and Toulouse marched silently Sunday urging unity and tolerance of all religions and cultures after the killings. An enormous French tricolor flag borne by dozens of marchers waved above the Paris march as it snaked away from the Place de la Bastille, birthplace of the French Revolution.

Gunman’s brother faces possible charges over French shootings>

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    Mute Marbles
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    Oct 31st 2019, 2:13 PM

    I can’t believe the news today.

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    Mute Roy Donovan
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    Oct 31st 2019, 2:30 PM

    @Marbles: it was a beautiful day up until this..

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    Mute Marbles
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    Oct 31st 2019, 2:32 PM

    @Roy Donovan: Walk on.

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    Mute Manbackonboard
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    Oct 31st 2019, 3:03 PM

    @Marbles: How long must we sing this song?

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    Mute Thomas Maher
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    Oct 31st 2019, 3:19 PM

    @Marbles: all these puns are giving me vertigo

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    Mute Brian Flavin
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    Oct 31st 2019, 4:13 PM

    @Marbles: McDonald’s disrespect

    8
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    Mute Frank Martin
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    Oct 31st 2019, 4:44 PM

    @Thomas Maher: Indeed, there are some very punny people on here

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    Mute Declan McArdle
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    Oct 31st 2019, 10:46 PM

    @Marbles: … Elevation

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    Mute Greg Ward
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    Oct 31st 2019, 2:09 PM

    FFS – Cop on.

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    Mute Colin Mcgahon
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    Oct 31st 2019, 3:03 PM

    Missing the big picture here why has Portugal still got sundaes and Ireland doesn’t

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    Mute filthypete
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    Oct 31st 2019, 6:33 PM

    @Colin Mcgahon: coz it’s a lot hotter?

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    Mute Dave Hammond
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    Oct 31st 2019, 3:41 PM

    ah would stop – it was Portugal – if they had of made this mistake in Ireland itself I would see your point and faux outrage but FFS. Google Sundae ? How would that have worked , people getting knickers in a twist over nothing these days.

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    Mute Declan Snow
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    Oct 31st 2019, 2:27 PM

    I just wish they’d bring the sundae back to Ireland

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    Mute Steph
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    Oct 31st 2019, 2:47 PM

    @Declan Snow: Bring back hot fudge sundaes

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    Mute Seán Corcoran BSc (Hons)
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    Oct 31st 2019, 2:22 PM

    Period Sundays. Nice.

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    Mute Jack Johnson
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    Oct 31st 2019, 3:28 PM

    You wake up in the morning, you’ve got to read all the Sunday papers, the kids are running round, you’ve got to mow the lawn, wash the car, and you think “Sunday, bloody Sunday!”

    69
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    Mute The next small thing
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    Oct 31st 2019, 3:45 PM

    @Jack Johnson: good man Alan, have a thumbs up

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    Mute Marcus Massey
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    Oct 31st 2019, 8:48 PM

    @Jack Johnson: Really encapsulates the frustration of a Sunday

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    Mute ReallyBadHusband
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    Oct 31st 2019, 2:45 PM

    I Can’t close my eyes and make this go away

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    Mute My Name is?
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    Oct 31st 2019, 3:50 PM

    It only a jasus ice cream

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    Mute John Euro Cooke
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    Oct 31st 2019, 2:21 PM

    Portugal lol

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    Mute Craic_a_tower
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    Oct 31st 2019, 3:20 PM

    They couldn’t just googled the expression before using it? There is tone deaf and willful ignorance. We don’t own the expression but there isn’t anything funny about any of the uses through history

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    Mute Dave Hammond
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    Oct 31st 2019, 4:23 PM

    @Craic_a_tower: So you think the Portuguese people should have Googled the terms with ‘Sundae’ in advance to find out if it was offensive…… and that it was beyond tone deaf….. willful ignorance ? when even the Lord himself has spent the past 33+ years preaching to us that Sunday Bloody Sunday was not in fact a rebel song ….nonsense..

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    Mute Lorcan OReilly
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    Oct 31st 2019, 6:43 PM

    @Dave Hammond: more so a multinational that spends millions on advertising. Look it was a mistake they apologized but they should be doing their research. Do you know how many people have to sign off on ad campaigns it wasnt just one guy. The apology and removal is an appropriate response.

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    Mute Mike
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    Oct 31st 2019, 7:25 PM

    @Craic_a_tower: I’d say you’re no craic at all. Get over yourself. Some joke getting offended by this.

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    Mute Dave Hammond
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    Oct 31st 2019, 7:26 PM

    @Lorcan OReilly: yep I do ( happend to have worked in Ad industry for years ) but in my opinion this is just complete nonsense…restaurants in the states sell St Valentines Day Massacres and nobody gets outraged and upset ….it’s just more PC / Faux outrage BS – they apologised in case they offended anyone , nobody has managed to find someone who was actually offended …it;s nonsense.

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    Mute Matt Connolly
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    Oct 31st 2019, 3:26 PM

    There’s more to Ireland den dis.

    https://youtu.be/6RTJ4vHoYUs

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    Mute Clancy
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    Oct 31st 2019, 4:09 PM

    Streisand effect. You get more bang for your buck by being banned. More column inches by causing offence. If you can’t be great be offensive, mediocre gains no cut through.

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    Mute Rob Hunt
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    Oct 31st 2019, 2:22 PM

    It’s always a small number of stores isn’t it?

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    Mute Paul Quirke
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    Oct 31st 2019, 6:50 PM

    Fatima from morketing got it slightly wrong :)

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    Mute Martin O Reilly
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    Oct 31st 2019, 5:05 PM

    Utter bullshite.

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    Mute Kevin Coyle
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    Oct 31st 2019, 5:32 PM

    Bono will have them in court for this

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    Mute Squiddley Diddley
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    Oct 31st 2019, 8:03 PM

    @Kevin Coyle: Nah, he took the name from a film.

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    Mute Sarah Clifford
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    Nov 1st 2019, 7:22 AM

    Great advertising for maccys thou

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