Man claiming al-Qaida link takes hostages in France

Gunman holding 4 hostages in Toulouse bank; incident appears to be an attempted robbery gone wrong, police official says.

By REUTERS
French special intervention police in Toulouse 370 (photo credit: Reuters)
French special intervention police in Toulouse 370
(photo credit: Reuters)
TOULOUSE, France - A man claiming to be a member of al-Qaida has taken four hostages in a bank in the southwestern French city of Toulouse, including the bank manager, police officials said on Wednesday.
The man took several hostages in a branch of French bank CIC and fired a shot after an attempted armed robbery apparently went wrong, UNSA police union official Cedric Delage told Reuters. Another police source said there were four hostages.
An anti-terrorist police unit was on its way to the scene and the area was sealed off, Delage said. He could not confirm the man's claim to be a member of the al-Qaida militant group.
In March, a young al-Qaida-inspired gunman who traveled by scooter shot dead three soldiers, a rabbi and three Jewish children in Toulouse.
The man, 23-year-old Mohammed Merah, was later shot dead by police after a standoff at his home in the city, in the same area as the CIC bank that was under siege on Wednesday.
The Interior Ministry was not immediately available to comment.