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Brother of Toulouse Terrorist Arrested as Accomplice in Shootings

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Abdelkader Merah, with his face covered, is flanked by masked police officers as he is taken to jail.Abdelkader Merah, a 29-year-old Islamic radical whose younger brother Mohammed killed seven people in a series of shootings in Toulouse, France, has been arrested by French authorities for acting as an accomplice in those attacks. The terrorist’s brother was picked up the day before Mohammed Merah was killed in a shootout with police. The older Merah – who has preliminarily been charged with complicity in murder and conspiracy to commit acts of terrorism – could be sentenced to life in jail if he is found guilty. While denying the charges, Abdelkader Merah allegedly told the police that he was “very proud” of his brother’s actions, although his lawyer has denied that her client ever made such a statement.

Evidence against Merah includes his admissions that he was with his younger brother when Mohammed stole the scooter that he used while committing the shootings, and that he dined with his brother just prior to the attack on Yeshiva Ozar Hatorah, when Mohammed Merah killed a rabbi, two of his young children, and the young daughter of the school’s principal. Moreover, a source stated that the signal from Abdelkader Merah’s phone placed him in the area at the time.

“The diligent police investigations have established the existence of grave and matching evidence,” said a statement from the public prosecutor’s office, “that show it plausible that he [Abdelkader Merah] participated as an accomplice in the course of crimes linked to terrorist action.”

While authorities had originally also detained Abdelkader Merah’s wife, she was later released. “It’s a relief for her, but she is also devastated because her husband is being held,” said Guy Debuisson, her lawyer. “She is discovering this man’s secret life … she knew nothing about the real and secret life of her husband, if such a thing is proven by the inquiry.”

The brothers’ mother, Zoulikha Aziri, who had been arrested as well, was also subsequently released. Aziri’s lawyer, Jean-Yves Gougnaud, said her world had been “turned upside down” by what had happened. “She did not see this coming at all,” Gougnaud said. “Now she feels a sense of guilt and remorse and is asking herself if she could have seen this, or could have noticed a change in her son’s behavior. There is nothing that could have made her think her son could do what he is accused of doing.”

Abdelkader Merah’s lawyer, Anne-Sophie Laguens, reported that her client feels that he is being treated as a “scapegoat,” due to the fact that his brother was killed and thus would not be able to stand trial.

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