Paris post office hostage drama over
January 16, 2015
French police said on Friday afternoon that the armed man had surrendered without a fight, ending a hostage drama that awoke painful memories of last week in Paris.
"There was no assault, the man gave himself up," a police source told the AFP news agency, when asked how the siege had ended. He also said that the hostages were "shocked but not injured."
The gunmen had held several people hostage at the post office in Colombes, about 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) north-west of Paris, at around 12 noon local time (11:00 GMT/UTC).
Police sealed off the area and dispatched a helicopter to assess the situation.
French newspapers Le Figaro and Le Monde, citing the AFP news agency, reported the man was equipped with a military style weapon.
There was no immediate indication of whether the hostage-taker was connected with the Islamist terrorists who killed 17 people in Paris last week.
"I cannot confirm or deny whether it is linked to terrorism," an official at the city prosecutor's office told the Reuters news agency, declining to give further details.
Earlier on Friday, French police arrested 12 people in connection with their investigations into last week's killings in Paris. The hostage-taking also coincided with the visit of US Secretary of State John Kerry, in Paris showing his solidarity with the country after the US came under criticism for sending lower-level political officials to last Sunday's memorial in Paris.
msh, jlw/ng (AFP, dpa)