Gunman Mohamed Merah buried near Toulouse

The gunman, Mohamed Merah, who killed seven people in three separate attacks in southern France, has been buried in a town near Toulouse, the BBC reported tonight.

Earlier Merah's body had been due to be flown to Algeria to be buried, but authorities in that country refused to take his remains.

His father had expressed a wish that the body be returned to Algeria and buried in a family plot in the Medea region.

Merah's body was transferred to Toulouse airport today in order to be transported to Algiers.

However, authorities refused to take it for 'reasons of public order.'

Abdallah Zekri of the French Muslim Council said that Merah would instead be buried at the Muslim cemetery in the Toulouse neighbourhood of Cornebarrieu.

Merah, a 23-year-old French citizen of Algerian origin, died after being shot in the head by a police sniper following a 32-hour siege.

During the siege, one of the longest in French history, Merah had admitted to killing seven people including a rabbi, three young children at a Jewish school and three French paratroopers.