Hostage-taker at French school held

An armed man who took hostages at a school complex just south of Paris has released them all unhurt and been taken into police custody, authorities said.

The drama began early in the day as parents dropped their children off at the complex, which includes nursery and elementary schools, in the commuter town of Vitry-sur-Seine. French schools are closed for the summer but still run activities.

Most hostages, who included children, were freed fairly quickly, police said, though one parent was held for several hours. All were unhurt.

Shortly after releasing the last hostage, the man walked out, said Pierre Dartout, the prefect of the Val-de-Marne region.

Teams from the elite Raid police force had been negotiating with him and took him into custody, also unhurt.

One police official said the man was carrying a gun; others said they did not know what weapon he had.

Little was known about the hostage-taker, but a judicial official said he was in his 30s, lives in Vitry and had no police record.

In late June, a man took four employees of a bank hostage in Toulouse. Authorities at the time said he appeared to be mentally ill and ranted disjointedly about religious motives.

Toulouse is the southern French city that was terrorised by a gunman who police say claimed links to al Qaida and killed three Jewish schoolchildren, a rabbi and three paratroopers. The suspected perpetrator, Mohamed Merah, was killed after a long stand-off with the Raid police.