A Coward's Death

So the coward is dead.

Mohammed Merah - the self-styled Islamic 'holy warrior' didn't go down in a hail of bullets - as he would have dreamed no doubt.

Instead he ended being shot by a police marksman - as he jumped out of a window in an effort to evade capture - a tragic almost comical figure in the end.

Yet there was nothing comical about his crimes - which included shooting young children in the head on their way to school.

The cold-blooded killings of people from short range - shocked the whole French nation.

Now shooting down other human beings takes a bit of nerve admittedly - but requires absolutely no courage.

Since the odds could not possibly be stacked any higher - in the gunman's favour.

So I hope the voice of the Muslim community in France is now heard loud and clear - in local towns and mosques across the country - as well as on national television.

'Holy war' and 'martyrdom' are concepts that belong in the dark ages - in medieval times.

Not in the mixed communities of provincial France - or indeed anywhere elsewhere in the modern world.