French Islamist militant had travelled to Spain

The self-proclaimed Al-Qaeda militant who killed seven people in France, including three Jewish school children, travelled to Spain in 2007, an Interior Ministry spokesman said Thursday.

Mohamed Merah crossed into Spain through Perpignan in southern France and was identified during a routine border check, the spokesman said.

Merah claimed “he was coming on holiday,” the spokesman added, without elaborating.

According to Spanish media, Merah may have been headed to an Islamist meeting in Catalonia, in the country’s northeast.

The daily newspaper ABC said Merah “could have been travelling to Tarragona to assist in some ‘Islamic training’ held each year in certain mosques.”

The interior ministry did not confirm this information.

Merah, 23, was killed Thursday when he was shot in the head during a confrontation with elite French police in Toulouse following a 32-hour standoff.