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Shock over Toulouse gunman Merah recording

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Relatives of the Toulouse terror victims have spoken of their shock at the broadcast of killer Mohamed Merah's negotiations with police on French national television.

Merah was heard on Sept a Huit, a programme broadcast on TV channel TF1 on Sunday night, telling negotiators he wanted to carry out more attacks, similar to the killings at the Jewish school in which he shot dead four people, including a rabbi and his two daughters.

He was heard claiming: "I would leave everything to chance and proceed without any preparation."

A lawyer acting for relatives of those killed, Samia Maktouf, said: "The victims are outraged to learn the contents of these negotiations on television," adding they would go to court in order to get a ban on any further broadcast of the tapes.

Merah also said he did not plan to be caught, and "was ready for all of the tactics negotiators would try", adding "I know that there's a chance you could kill me, that's a risk I'm taking. So there we are, know that you are up against a man who is not afraid of death."

The French interior minister, Maunel Valls, strongly condemned the decision of TF1 to broadcast the tapes while court proceedings were ongoing.

The producer of Sept a Huit, Emmanuel Chain, defended his decision to broadcast the recording, arguing it had a "high news value" and that the network had "acted responsibly".

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