The brother of an Islamist gunman whose grisly murder spree shocked France has been charged with complicity in the attacks.
Abdelkader Merah denied any involvement in the shootings of three French soldiers, three Jewish schoolchildren and a trainee rabbi - attacks claimed by his younger brother Mohammed Merah, 23.
Merah, who said he had links to Al-Qaeda, died Thursday in an exchange of gunfire after a prolonged stand-off with police at his Toulouse apartment.
His elder brother had reportedly said he was "proud" of Merah's actions - a claim his lawyer Anne Sophie Laguens sought to dispel after Mr Abdelkader was charged.
"He is not at all proud of the acts of his brother, like was said in the press," she told reporters in Paris. "He strongly condemns them. He hopes he doesn't become a scapegoat."
Her client denies all charges against him, she added.
Abdelkader Merah, 29, has become a focus of the investigation into his brother's deadly rampage, the worst terror attacks in France in recent years.
Police and prosecutors have described Abdelkader Merah as a more radical Islamist than his brother and said he has long been known to police for his "fundamentalist religious convictions", a police source said.
Police knew about the elder brother since 2007, when he allegedly helped jihadists get to Iraq. He is considered a hardline Islamist who pushed Mohamed Merah in an increasingly radical direction, a police source said.
The elder Merah and his girlfriend, Yamina Mesbah, were taken in for questioning Wednesday. Mesbah was released without charge but Abdelkader Merah was taken from the French police's anti-terrorist headquarters in a Paris suburb to face an investigating judge in the city's central courts.
He was indicted for complicity in the murders and conspiracy to prepare acts of terrorism.
Attacks filmed
As police surrounded his Toulouse apartment last week, Mohamed Merah claimed responsibility for the three attacks. In the first two shootings he targeted soldiers on the streets, then last week he attacked a Jewish school.
Police have said he filmed his three attacks with a camera strapped to his body and investigators said he had planned to post footage online and use the Internet to claim responsibility for the carnage.
Thousands of people across France paid homage to the victims earlier today, including in Paris and in Toulouse, where crowds, many of them clasping roses, walked silently through the district that witnessed the attack on the Jewish school.
Mohamed Merah, who was labelled a "monster" by President Nicolas Sarkozy, told police during the siege he regretted not having killed more Jewish children, a newspaper report claimed.
Mr Sarkozy held an emergency meeting Saturday with Prime Minister Francois Fillon and cabinet ministers to discuss security issues amid criticism of the way police handled the affair.
