French shooter drags out siege at flat

As Mohammed Merah’s stand-off with French police came to a climax late last night, French television released a picture of the gunman wanted for shooting seven people.

Three explosions were heard last night as French police began their assault on the home of the gunman wanted for shooting seven people dead.

Mohammed Merah, who killed three Jewish schoolchildren, a rabbi and three paratroopers, had said he would turn himself in at night “to be more discreet”.