A recording of conversations between French terrorist Mohamed Merah and police shows jihadists encouraged him to attack Canada.

TF1, a TV station in France, aired part of the recording Sunday night.

Merah killed seven people in March, including Jewish children, a rabbi and French soldiers.

"They (al-Qaida) offered me attacks in America, Canada, etc. And I said as I'm French, it's easier for me to attack France," Merah says in the recording. "I work for al-Qaida, I have superiors, I'm not alone," he said. "I'm alone in France, I work alone here, but I was sent by al-Qaida, I was trained by the Pakistani Taliban, there's an entire organization behind this."

His targets, he said, included, "known people, killing some diplomats, like the Indian ambassador, or press bosses in some countries."

The conversations between Merah, 23, and police were recorded during a 32-hour standoff in Toulouse, in southwest France, before Merah was killed in a firefight with police, AFP reported.

In a statement, French Interior Minister Manuel Valls said he was aware police had a recording of the telephone conversations, but doesn't know how the TV station got it.
Valls said there were no efforts on the part of TF1 to contact the family members of victims and he condemned the decision to air the recordings.