A French national of Algerian origin, he had been under surveillance by French intelligence for a couple of years, having "already committed certain infractions, some with violence," Gueant told CNN affiliate BFM-TV. Merah has spent considerable time in Afghanistan and Pakistan, Gueant said. Merah was sent back from Afghanistan to France by the U.S. Army, Paris prosecutor Francois Molins said in Toulouse Wednesday. He said Afghan police had checked Merah's identification during a traffic stop, and as a result he was handed over to the U.S. Army, which then put him on board the first plane heading to France. But a senior U.S. military official gave a different version from the French prosecutor about what happened to the suspect in Afghanistan. The senior U.S. military official told the CNN contributor Fran Townsend that the French shooting suspect was stopped by Afghan forces who tried to turn him over to the U.S. military. The U.S. directed them to hand Merah to French forces since he was a citizen of their country. He was given over the French military by the Afghans and the French military decided to return him to France, according to the source.Security Blogs CNN.com
“the senior U.S. military official told the CNN contributor Fran Townsend that the French shooting suspect was stopped by Afghan forces who tried to turn him over to the U.S. military. The U.S. directed them to hand Merah to French forces since he was a citizen of their country.”
IOW, the obama/Sgt. Schultz smart power doctrine: “I hear nothing, I see nothing, I know nothing!”