Iman Chairman condemns killings by Islamist extremist in France

TOULOUSE, France -- In a dramatic end to a 32-hour standoff, a French SWAT team slipped into the apartment of an Islamist extremist, sparking a firefight that ended with the suspect jumping out of a window and being fatally shot in the head.

Mohamed Merah, 23, was wanted in the deaths of three French paratroopers, three Jewish schoolchildren and a rabbi -- all killed since March 11 in what Merah reportedly told police was an attempt to "bring France to its knees."

Police had been trying to capture him alive since a predawn raid Wednesday to arrest him at his apartment in Toulouse. The killings he was accused of, and boasted about to police, shocked France, and has ignited fear in moderate Muslims about stoking discrimination.

The seven slayings, carried out in three motorcycle shooting attacks, are believed to be the first killings in France inspired by Islamic radical motives since Sept. 11, 2001.

Authorities said Merah espoused a radical form of Islam and had been to Afghanistan and the Pakistani militant stronghold of Waziristan, where he claimed to have been trained by al-Qaida.

(Source: The Associated Press)

Commenting on the killings, Ribal Al-Assad, Chairman of the Iman Foundation, said:

"I condemn the barbaric criminal acts perpetrated by this Islamist extremist. I would like to offer my sincere and heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims and to the French people. The international community must remain united in tackling extremism and terrorism. Greater dialogue is vital to bringing about greater understanding and mutual acceptance in the world today."