France shootings: Teacher 'probed over gunman tribute'

A teacher is facing disciplinary action in France after reports she asked pupils to hold a one-minute silence for a gunman who killed seven people.

Mohamed Merah died in a police assault on his flat in Toulouse on Thursday after a 32-hour siege.

The Paris Normandie newspaper says the teacher in Rouen called Merah the victim of an unfortunate childhood.

She apparently said his links to al-Qaeda were invented by the media and French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

Merah shot dead three Jewish children and a rabbi as they arrived at school on Monday morning, and he killed three soldiers a few days before.

French schools had held a minute's silence for the victims of the shootings after the attack on the Jewish institute.

French Education Minister Luc Chatel condemned the teacher's alleged actions and called for her to be suspended immediately and to face disciplinary proceedings.

Most of the students walked out of the classroom although a few remained, saying they were trying to understand what the teacher was talking about, Paris Normandie said.