French President Nicolas Sarkozy. Photo: wiki commons.

Al Jazeera has decided not to broadcast the footage sent to them of Mohammed Merah’s personally taped video, which shows his recent killing spree in France, including the murders of Jewish schoolchildren, a rabbi, and French soldiers.

“In accordance with Al Jazeera’s Code of Ethics, given the video does not add any information that is not already in the public domain, its news channels will not be broadcasting any of its contents,” the broadcaster said in a statement.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy made a personal request for the footage not to be shown “out of respect for the victims and for France.”

“I call on executives of all TV stations that may have the images in their possession not to broadcast them under any pretext out of respect for the victims and for France,” he said.

The video footage was sent last Wednesday, the same day that French police located Merah and surrounded the apartment he was in before a standoff which lasted more than a day and eventually ended with Merah’s death.

Al Jazeera’s Paris bureau chief Zied Tarrouche said the video footage had been altered to include verses from the Quran and religious music.

“We are not a sensationalist channel. We’re not looking to broadcast images without weighing the risks and the consequences. That’s why the management will decide today after meeting at headquarters in Qatar, Tarrouche said”