text: Gunman's Brother On 'Preliminary Charges' 
   
   Mohamed Merah was shot dead by a police sniper after a 30-hour siege at his flat 
   
   French prosecutors have filed preliminary murder and terrorism charges against the brother of a gunman who killed Jewish schoolchildren and paratroopers. 
   
   An official from the prosecutor's office confirmed the charges of suspected complicity were handed to Abdelkader Merah, 29. 
   
   He has denied helping his 23-year-old sibling Mohammed, who was killed by police on Thursday, commit three deadly attacks that claimed the lives of seven people. 
   
   Preliminary charges under French law mean there is strong reason to suspect a crime was committed but allow magistrates more time to investigate. 
   
   Merah's younger brother Mohamed, 23, was shot dead by police after claiming responsibility for killing three Jewish schoolchildren, a rabbi and three paratroopers earlier this month. 
   
   His older brother and his partner, who has since been released, were arrested on Wednesday after Mohammed Merah was shot at the end of a 30-hour siege at his flat in Toulouse. 
   
   A post-mortem examination showed he was hit by more than 20 bullets. 
   
   Bullet holes in the wall of Mohammed Merah's flat 
   
   During the standoff, Mohammed admitted killing three Jewish schoolchildren, a rabbi and three soldiers in separate attacks. 
   
   The Paris public prosecutor's office earlier said in a statement: "Police inquiries have produced grave and matching pointers that suggest his (Abdelkader's) participation as accomplice in crimes relating to a terrorist enterprise is plausible." 
   
   The inquiry will seek to establish whether Abdelkader, who state prosecutors say was already known to security services for helping to smuggle Jihadist militants into Iraq in 2007, should stand trial. 
   
   Abdelkader said during preliminary questioning he was proud of his sibling's killing spree, a police source has said. 
   
   Police also found explosives in a car that he owned, according to the Paris prosecutor leading the case. 
   
   Zoulika Aziri, the mother of the siblings, was released on Friday. ||||| Image caption Abdelkader Merah was taken in for questioning on Wednesday 
   
   The brother of the man who killed seven people in south-west France in recent weeks has been charged over the murders, judicial sources say. 
   
   Abdelkader Merah, 29, is suspected of complicity in murder and theft, and involvement in terrorism. He will be kept in custody, prosecutors said. 
   
   Abdelkader Merah denies the accusations but says he was there when his brother stole a scooter used in the attacks. 
   
   He also denies being proud of his brother, who was killed on Thursday. 
   
   According to his lawyer, Abdelkader Merah "strongly condemns" his brother's actions, saying he is "not at all proud" of them. 
   
   "Otherwise, he just hopes he does not become the scapegoat for his brother's acts because this is in some ways what is happening," Anne-Sophie Laguens said. 
   
   Mohamed Merah died in a shoot-out with police following a 32-hour siege of his apartment in Toulouse. 
   
   During the stand-off, he had admitted shooting dead three soldiers in two separate incidents, and, last Monday, killing three children and a teacher at a Jewish school in the city. 
   
   Investigators are trying to establish if Merah, a 23-year-old French citizen of Algerian descent, acted alone. 
   
   His older brother - and a woman described variously as his wife or girlfriend - were detained by police on Wednesday, and taken for questioning at domestic intelligence agency (DCRI) headquarters in Paris. 
   
   The woman was released without charge earlier on Sunday. 
   
   Meanwhile, several thousand people marched in silence through Toulouse and the French capital, Paris, urging unity and tolerance of all religions and cultures following the shootings. 
   
   Image caption Demonstrators in Paris bore a giant French flag as they marched for unity and tolerance 
   
   'Radical Islamist' 
   
   Prosecutors said Abdelkader Merah was presented to a judge in Paris on charges of criminal conspiracy aimed at planning terrorist acts and of complicity in murders and gang robbery. 
   
   He was handed preliminary charges of complicity in murder and theft, and involvement in preparing a terrorist attack. 
   
   Correspondents say that under French law, preliminary charges are filed when there are strong reasons to suspect a crime was committed, but more time is needed to investigate. 
   
   "Police inquiries have produced grave and matching pointers that suggest his participation as accomplice in crimes relating to a terrorist enterprise is plausible," the Paris public prosecutor's office said in a statement earlier. 
   
   Police and prosecutors have previously reportedly said Abdelkader is a radical Islamist and that traces of what could be an explosive material were found in his car. 
   
   He was questioned several years ago about alleged links to a network sending Toulouse-area youths to Iraq, but no action was brought against him at the time, police sources say. 
   
   Mohamed Merah had described himself as an al-Qaeda member, and told police he had bought weapons for 20,000 euros (£16,700; $24,400) using money taken through break-ins and hold-ups. 
   
   He recorded the shootings on a video camera strapped to his body. 
   
   The brothers' mother, 55-year-old Zoulika Aziri, had also been taken in for questioning, but was released without charge on Friday. 
   
   Her lawyer said her world had been "turned upside down" by the events. "At no time could she have imagined that her son was the one who did it," Jean-Yves Gougnaud told reporters in Toulouse.
target: – Toulouse gunman Mohamed Merah may be dead, but French authorities are eying complicity charges for his brother, Abdelkader, reports Sky News. "Police inquiries have produced grave and matching pointers that suggest his (Abdelkader's) participation as accomplice in crimes relating to a terrorist enterprise is plausible," says a statement from the Paris prosecutor's office. The elder Merah, 29, has been in custody since Wednesday, and will be detained indefinitely as charges are weighed, notes the BBC. Abdelkader Merah's companion, variously described as his wife or girlfriend, had also been held since Wednesday, but was released earlier today.