Al-jazeera Has the French Shooting Videos!!!

[bigmikeymike]

Al-Jazeera says it will not air a video that appears to show the attacks on soldiers and a Jewish school in southwestern France from the killer's point of view.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy, other French officials and family members of the victims had asked for the footage not to be broadcast.

The television station received the footage on a USB key sent with a letter to their Paris office.

Police traced the attacks to 23-year-old Frenchman Mohamed Merah who was killed last week after a more than 30-hour standoff with police at his apartment building.

Prosecutors have said that Merah filmed all of his attacks, which began March 11 with the murder of a French soldier. Before the spree ended, two more soldiers and three Jewish children and a rabbi were killed.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

PARIS (AP) — Al-Jazeera has received a video that appears to show the attacks on soldiers and a Jewish school in southwestern France from the killer's point of view, including the cries of his victims. French President Nicolas Sarkozy said it should not be broadcast.

The images were contained on a USB key sent with a letter to the Paris office of the Qatar-based television company, Zied Tarrouche, the station's Paris bureau chief, said Tuesday on the French TV station BFM. The letter, written in poor French with spelling and grammar errors, claimed the shootings were carried out in the name of al-Qaida.

Police traced the attacks to Mohamed Merah, a 23-year-old Frenchman, who was killed last week after a more than 30-hour standoff with police at his apartment building. Merah had claimed to police that he had links to al-Qaida, traveled to Afghanistan and received weapons training in the militant-riddled Pakistani tribal region of Waziristan. But authorities have questioned some of Merah's claims.

Prosecutors have said that Merah filmed all of his attacks, which began March 11 with the murder of a French soldier. Before the spree ended, two more soldiers and three Jewish children and a rabbi were killed.

Tarrouche said the images appear to have been taken from the point of view of the killer, perhaps from a camera hung around his neck. He said they were a bit shaky but of a high technical quality.

Click image to see more photos


REUTERS/Jean-Paul Pelissier

The video had clearly been manipulated after the fact, according to Tarrouche, with religious songs and recitations of Quranic verses laid over the footage.

"You can hear gunshots at the moment of the killings. You can hear the voice of this person who has committed these assassinations. You can hear also the cries of the victims, and the voices were distorted," Tarrouche said.

In an address to police officers and judges Tuesday, Sarkozy asked that the images not be broadcast.

"I ask the managers of all television stations that might have these images not to broadcast them in any circumstances, out of respect for the victims — out of respect for the Republic," Sarkozy said.

There was no indication that other stations have the images.

Tarrouche said his station is currently deciding whether to broadcast the video. He said he had spoken with the Paris prosecutor, whose office is leading the investigation and who explained the consequences of disseminating the images. But Tarrouche said the prosecutor said he would not prohibit the channel from "doing its work as journalists."

"We are not a sensationalist channel. We're not looking to broadcast images without weighing the risks and the consequences. That's why the management will decide today after meeting at headquarters in Qatar," Tarrouche said.

He said investigators spent Monday interviewing employees at the Paris bureau about the video. It was not immediately clear when the footage was received or who had sent it.

Al-Jazeera was frequently used early in the Iraq and Afghan wars as a conduit for militants, including Osama bin Laden, to distribute taped statements. As the Iraq war progressed, many of these tapes included gruesome killings and beheadings of Western or foreign hostages, although the station edited out some of the grisliest scenes at the moment of death.

The broadcasts drew outrage, especially from the Bush administration. Over time, most militant groups opted instead for posting such videos on their own websites, where they were not subject to outside editing standards.

A lawyer for the families of the victims killed outside the Jewish school, Patrick Klugman, warned on Tuesday that there would be legal consequences for those who disseminate the footage.

"Clearly, we'll go after them wherever they are, whatever media," he said on BFM television.

Meanwhile, Merah's father, who was estranged from his son and lives in Algeria, has reportedly said he wants to file a complaint for Mohamed's death. In his address, Sarkozy expressed outrage at that idea.

"It's with indignation that I learned that the father of the assassin of seven people — including three soldiers and three children — wanted to file a lawsuit against France for the death of his son," Sarkozy said. "Do we need to remind this man that his son filmed his crimes and diabolically made sure to send these despicable images to a television station?"

Sarkozy has said Merah was not part of a terror cell, but investigators are looking into whether his brother, Abdelkader, was an accomplice, and whether anyone else might have been involved.

Preliminary charges for complicity in murder and terrorism have been filed against Abdelkader, though no evidence has emerged that he took part directly in the shooting.

[dayglohylite]

I heard rumors of this about a week ago but I couldn't find anything to substantiate them. Guess now that the police have copies and Al Jazeera won't air them then it may be some time before any footage surfaces.

[ices]

You know, if these videos come to DR, wont they try and use censure laws to shut the site down as it will be shown to 'glorify' violence towards innocents?

[dayglohylite]

Originally Posted by ices

You know, if these videos come to DR, wont they try and use censure laws to shut the site down as it will be shown to 'glorify' violence towards innocents?

I'm not too sure about this one. I do see your point. But, in saying that, There are other images or vids on the site that could be seen as being glorification of violence. Vids of the The Dnepropetrovsk Maniacs I put forward as an example. I think these images should be seen to make the viewer aware of what really happens in this world and not just read about it in a newspaper and dismiss it as being.... over there or, it dosen't affect me.

Releasing them now could be bad as there is so much public awareness of them and so it could result in a backlash if it got out.

So ultimatley I don't know. I'd like to see them but if it were to damage the site I'd not wish them to be posted.

[icheerthebull]

To be honest I was starting to think 'he was locked up in the house for that long and he didnt upload the footage to the internet?'. Im sure he sent it to a few other people as well. If he had any real links to groups the media are saying he had then I am sure it will end up on a propaganda tape in a few weeks.

Having said that I am not really sure I would want to see it at the moment or that I ever will. Children getting shot in the head at close range would fuck me up a bit

[dayglohylite]

Not too sure bout the child aspect of it too. That would be a major problem. The other killings I'm not too bad with. Sounds sick I know but that's just me.

[BryanXavier]

I read that, too. It'll pop up some day.

[bigmikeymike]

yuppers. All a matter of time.