Toulouse gunman Mohammed Merah had links to Islamic extremists in Britain

Abdelkader Merah, shown during his arrest by French officers, faces terrorism charges alongside his wife. He has said he is proud of his killer younger brother.

The Al Qaeda gunman who shot dead seven people in France was in touch with British Islamic extremists as recently as last year, security sources in Paris said yesterday.

Mohammed Merah, 23, who was killed when police commandos stormed his flat in Toulouse last week, is said to have met UK-based jihadists on a visit to Afghanistan. His codename – ‘Youssef Toulouse’ – was passed to British security agents.

The disclosures came as the girlfriend of one of Merah’s victims said she intended to marry her partner in a posthumous ceremony.

Caroline Monet, 21, has been given presidential permission to wed 25-year-old Corporal Abel Chennouf, who was shot dead at a cash machine in the town of Montauban, near Toulouse, this month.

Merah’s brother Abdelkader, 29, and his 30-year-old wife, who has not been named, face charges of ‘conspiracy to commit terrorist acts’. Read More