HAPPENING NOW: Al Qaeda Operative takes 4 Hostages in Bank, Toulouse, France

yawn.


no pin.

There are no reports of injuries in the incident so far.

The area around the bank has been cordoned off and two nearby schools have been closed.

"We're taking measures so we can start a dialogue," said public prosecutor Michel Valet, at the scene.

Special police units from the GIPN (Groupe d'intervention de la police nationale) have arrived from Marseille and Bordeaux.

The BBC's Christian Fraser, in Paris, says the bank is 100 metres (330ft) from Merah's flat, in an area adjacent to the barracks where Raid police were based during the siege of Merah's flat.

[link to www.bbc.co.uk]

This may be related:

Pakistan has arrested a French man reportedly linked to one of the masterminds of the Sept. 11 terrorist attack, a reminder of the country's vital role in the war on international jihadist groups at a time of deteriorating relations with the U.S., security officials said Wednesday.

Naamen Meziche was captured in a raid near the border with Iran, officials said, without specifying when this had happened.

Western media reports have described Meziche as an al-Qaida operative with links to European jihadist groups believed to have been living until now in either Pakistan or Iran. CNN and the Wall Street Journal have reported that Meziche was a friend of Mohammed Atta, who piloted American Airlines Flight 11 into the World Trade Center. However, he does not appear to have any operational role in the attacks.

[link to www.google.com]

Call me old fashioned but a man, in a bank, with a gun, taking hostages is surely just a bank robber.

He might want to distract people from that fact, by spinning a story, but his political affiliations don’t make him any less of a bank robber.

BREAKING NEWS: Update: 1 hostage at Toulouse, France, bank has been freed, police say

[link to twitter.com]

One of four hostages released by "al-Qaeda sympathiser" in Toulouse bank

[link to twitter.com]

this world is a bad b-movie

a second hostage released

[link to twitter.com]

Gunman in Toulouse bank heist captured; hostages freed . Man claimed al-Qaeda link.

[link to twitter.com]

It's over, the hostages are free and the man captured and wounded.

pics here ==> [link to www.ladepeche.fr]