Paris prosecutor probes leak of terror tape

[July 11, 2012]  PARIS (AP) -- The Paris prosecutor's office says it will pursue an investigation into the leak of excerpts of a recorded conversation between police and a man accused of a deadly terrorist rampage.

Leading French TV channel TF1 aired on Sunday the recordings of Mohamed Merah, a 23-year-old suspected of killing three Jewish schoolchildren, a rabbi and three paratroopers around Toulouse in March. Police recorded the negotiations while Merah during a standoff, in which he was eventually killed.

The prosecutor's office said Wednesday it is looking into charges of "breaching investigation secrets," "breaching professional secrets" and the receipt of those secrets.

It opened a preliminary investigation after the broadcast.

The office said investigators tried on Monday to retrieve the recordings from the production company that put together the broadcast but were denied.

[Associated Press]

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