Merah had been holed up since Tuesday night after being tracked down by police as the main suspect in a wave of shootings that killed seven people, including three soldiers, a rabbi and three Jewish children.

President Nicolas Sarkozy congratulated police involved in the operation. He said after the death of Merah was announced that an investigation is under- way to see if the suspect in the series of radical Islam-inspired killings had any accomplices.

"All was done to bring the killer to justice, but it was inconceivable to risk lives ... There have already been too many deaths," Sarkozy said, after a meeting with the defense, justice and foreign ministers.

He announced a new crackdown in France on the spread of terrorist-linked ideologies and activities. Anyone who regularly visits "websites which support terrorism or call for hate or violence will be punished by the law", Sarkozy said.

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