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A self-proclaimed al-Qaida militant died in a hail of bullets on Thursday as he jumped out of an apartment window at the end of a 32-hour siege in southern France. Mohamed Merah, the main suspect in a wave of shootings that killed seven people, had tried to blast his way out of the siege in the city of Toulouse after members of an elite force known as RAID entered his flat. But Interior Minister Claude Gueant said the 23-year-old had been found dead on the ground in a dramatic end to the lengthy standoff."The killer came out of the bathroom, shooting very violently. The bursts of gunfire were frequent and hard," Gueant said. "A RAID officer who is used to this kind of thing told me that he had never seen such a violent assault. "RAID officers, of course, tried to protect themselves, to return fire, and then in the end, Mohamed Merah jumped out of the window with a gun in his hand, continuing to fire. He was found dead on the ground." The exact cause of the death was not immediately clear. Merah's flat was reportedly on the first floor above the ground floor. Sustained bursts of gunfire had been heard outside the apartment after sources said police were moving "rapidly" to end the siege, but progressing "step by step" through the apartment in fear of booby traps. Three loud explosions near the apartment were heard shortly before police said the officers had moved in, and an ambulance was then seen passing through a security cordon. | 
