Siege ends as hostage taker shot by police

Tunisian hostage-taker Meji Bejaoui (39) was shot and seriously wounded by Luxembourg police last night in a dramatic end to a 28-hour siege at a daycare centre in this small town. All his hostages were released unharmed. Bejaoui is understood from official Luxembourg sources to have been lured from the centre, where he was holding 25 children and three care assistants, to take part in a fake television interview and then shot twice in the head by police marksmen. He was flown immediately to a hospital, where his condition was unclear.

The Luxembourg Prime Minister, Mr Jean-Claude Juncker, who spoke to journalists from the scene, refused to confirm the details of the final moments of the siege, promising that when reviewed by the authorities they would be released today.

Mr Juncker said the key issue was to prevent the gunman from getting into the car he had demanded to take him to the airport for a flight to Libya. That would have represented "another level of danger", he said. "It was not an easy decision to take, but we had to take it."

Mr Juncker said he had spoken to Bejaoui several times during the day and was aware of the dangerous state he was in. He praised the professionalism of the Luxembourg emergency services and thanked a number of governments for their offers of assistance.

Police surrounding the centre had been speaking to Bejaoui on and off all day on the phone, but it became clear that their patience was wearing thin about 6 p.m. when a spokesman told journalists "the negotiations have gone on long enough". At 7.25 two shots rang out.