Abel Chennouf

French police shot dead Thursday a self-declared Al-Qaeda militant wanted for a series of killings of soldiers and Jews, ending a tense 32-hour siege in the south of France.

A self-proclaimed Al-Qaeda militant died in a hail of bullets on Thursday as he jumped out of an apartment window at the end of a 32-hour siege in southern France.

A suspected Al-Qaeda militant behind a wave of killings in France died in a shootout with police who moved into his flat to end a lengthy siege, police sources told AFP Thursday.

French police stepped up pressure Thursday on a besieged Al-Qaeda militant who boasted of having "brought France to its knees" with a wave of brutal attacks that left seven dead.

0330 GMT: While there are no obvious signs of an imminent police assault on the gunman, a source close to the enquiry says the end to the standoff is not far off.

2053 GMT: Merah only attacked the Jewish school in Toulouse Monday because he wanted to kill a soldier but could not find a military target, interior minister Claude Gueant tells LCI television. The school attack left three children and a teacher dead and sent shockwaves across France.

French police laid siege Wednesday to an apartment block where a self-declared Al-Qaeda militant who boasted of having "brought France to its knees" with a wave of deadly attacks was holed up.

French police laid siege Wednesday to an apartment block where a self-declared Al-Qaeda militant who has claimed a series of deadly attacks on troops and Jewish children was holed up.

French police laid siege Wednesday to an apartment block where a self-declared Al-Qaeda militant who claimed a series of deadly attacks on troops and Jewish children was holed up.

French police were trying Wednesday to negotiate the surrender of a suspected Islamist militant holed up in a flat after shootings that left seven dead, including three Jewish children.

A blast rang out Wednesday as French police besieged a flat where an Islamist suspect in a series of deadly shootings was holed up, claiming he had acted to avenge Palestinian children.

French police surrounded a house Wednesday where a man suspected of a series of deadly shootings was holed up, claiming he had carried out the attacks to avenge Palestinian children.

Shots rang out Wednesday as French police surrounded a self-declared member of the Al-Qaeda network holed up in a house after a series of shooting attacks that shocked the nation.

Shots rang out Wednesday as French police surrounded a self-declared member of the Al-Qaeda network holed up in a house after a series of shooting attacks that shocked the nation.