Killer to be buried in Toulouse despite protest

TOULOUSE, France, Mar 29 – French Islamist killer Mohamed Merah is to be buried in Toulouse on Thursday, a cleric close to his family said, despite the mayor saying a burial in his hometown was “inappropriate”.

“There were negotiations, we reached an agreement, the body will be buried in an hour,” Abdallah Zekri of the French Muslim Council told AFP. “We’re just waiting for the security cordon to be set up.”

Merah, who killed seven people before he was shot dead by police last week, had been due to be buried at the southwestern city’s Cornebarrieu cemetery on Thursday after Algeria rejected his corpse citing security concerns.

Toulouse’s Socialist mayor Pierre Cohen then called for Merah’s burial to be delayed a day pending a decision from the relevant authorities on whether it should go ahead.

“Following Algeria’s last minute refusal to accept Mohamed Merah’s body, Pierre Cohen feels that his burial within the city of Toulouse is inappropriate. So he has asked the regional prefect to delay the burial 24 hours,” city hall said.

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