A man who claims to be a member of al Qaeda and armed with explosives has taken hostages at a bank in Toulouse, southwest France.
Two of the four people being held – which included the bank’s manager – have been freed from the building, according to French media organisations.
One of those released was exchanged for food and water.
An elite police unit has begun negotiations with the hostage-taker, who has fired two shots at the CIC bank on Avenue Camille Pujol.
Anti-terrorist police from the nearby cities of Bordeaux and Marseille, and a bomb disposal squad have arrived at the scene, which has been cordoned off.
A local school has also been evacuated.
“The man has made clear that he is not acting for money, but for religious reasons,” a prosecutor, Michel Valet, said.
But Sky’s defence and security editor Sam Kiley stressed that the man’s links to al Qaeda have yet to be verified.
“Most of the indicators are that it seems more like a bank robbery that has gone wrong,” he said.
“And frankly, if you are a common criminal and you suddenly say you are linked to al Qaeda, you get a lot more specialist treatment. It is good for the ego.”
He added: “It remains to be seen whether or not this guy is indeed an Islamic militant or just a bank robber”.
A police source said officers had identified the hostage taker and have found a person who knows him to help with negotiations.
He has a name of North African origin and had spent time in a psychiatric hospital, the source added.
The suspect had asked to speak to French police’s Raid commando unit – the squad which, in March, shot dead Mohammed Merah who had killed seven people in the same city.
Tree Jewish schoolchildren, a rabbi and three French soldiers, were killed by Merah, who was shot dead by police following a 30-hour siege.
The 23-year-old, of Algerian descent, filmed his shootings, which spanned a three-week period, and reportedly told police they were an attempt to “bring France to its knees”.
Merah’s family are attempting to sue the French government and Raid squad for his death, “even though he had been firing from his flat where he was eventually cornered after his killing spree,” Kiley said.
The CIC bank and Merah’s former flat are very close, in the Cote Pavee neighbourhood of east Toulouse.
Source : Orange