The arrests were made several cities, including Toulouse – though police say there is no direct link with Mohammed Merah, the self-proclaimed member of Al Qaeda who shot dead seven people in or near the southern city.
Leaders of France's Jewish and Muslim communities met with President Nicolas Sarkozy today. The shootings in Toulouse at a Jewish school on Monday by Muslim fanatic has shocked the whole country and leaders from every level of society are trying to show solidarity. (Franck Prevel/AFP/Getty Images)
The suspect is cornered. As I write this it seems only a matter of time before he either gives himself up or ends things in a suicide by cop action.
But it is clear that this event is, in the words of French political commentator Agnes Poirier, "France's 7/7." July 7th, 2005 was the day jihadi suicide bombers killed more than 50 people in London.
The suspect reportedly told police that he wanted to avenge the deaths of Palestinian children and punish the French military for its operations overseas.
Police forensic teams working outside the Jewish school in Toulouse where three children and a rabbi were murdered today. (ERIC CABANIS/AFP/Getty Images)
We know the where, when and how but what yokes together the drive-by assassinations of paratroopers from immigrant backgrounds and a rabbi and three Jewish school children?
This post is likely to be superseded by events but it is important to summarize what is known seven hours after today's killings (thanks to the BBC):
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