French Investigators Launch Probe over Leaked Gunman Tapes

French judicial authorities Wednesday launched a probe into television channel TF1's airing of recordings of self-proclaimed al-Qaida gunman Mohamed Merah negotiating with police shortly before he was shot dead.

A judicial source said an investigation had been opened into breaches of professional secrecy and into revealing details of an ongoing probe.

Prosecutors had opened a case shortly after the broadcast on Sunday and the opening of a judicial probe will see an investigating magistrate assigned to the case.

Merah, who killed seven people in March including three Jewish children, was shot dead in a police assault after a 32-hour siege of his apartment in the southern city of Toulouse.

The extracts, aired on the Sunday evening news, sparked fury among his victims' families.

Interior Minister Manuel Valls condemned the move, saying it showed a lack of sensitivity towards the families and came at a time when several cases relating to the killings were ongoing.

France's media regulator CSA also gave the channel an official warning about the broadcast.

In the extracts, the 23-year-old Merah said he was "not afraid of death".

"I work for al-Qaida, I have superiors, I'm not alone... I'm alone in France, I work alone here, but I was sent by al-Qaida, I was trained by the Pakistani Taliban, there's an entire organization behind this," Merah said in the tapes.

"They asked me to make bombs, I didn't want to... I told them 'train me in using a gun.'"

Catherine Nayl the news director of TF1 had argued that the recordings contained "very important information" that warranted being broadcast.

The case highlighted shortcomings in France's counter-terrorism operations, with authorities criticized for not taking Merah as a serious threat even though he was known to have met with extremist groups in Pakistan and Afghanistan.