One week after the self-confessed gunman of four Jews and three French paratroopers in Toulouse was shot to dead, on Friday, March 30^th the French police arrested 19 suspected Islamist militants and seized weapons in a series of raids in several parts of the country. French President Nicolas Sarkozy told reporters about the arrests, and also added that the raids are going to continue and would lead to a certain number of people being expelled from France.

French special police forces raided houses and apartment towers of alleged members of Islamist community groups considered potentially dangerous, said Mr. Sarkozy. Some of the arrests were in Toulouse, where 23-year old Frenchman Mohamed Merah is suspected of killing four people earlier this month at a Jewish school, including three children. Mr. Merah, who was himself killed last Thursday after a violent standoff with police, is also suspected of killing three soldiers in two separate attacks in the area the previous week.

Some of the arrests in the dawn sweep were possibly linked to the Merah investigation though they are not confined to that case, said Mr. Sarkozy. Speaking on French Europe 1 radio, Mr. Sarkozy said the arrests were in the whole country…linked to some form of radical Islamism. He said other arrests were also under way.

The police also seized weapons, including Kalashnikov machine guns, Mr. Sarkozy said. He didn't say whether any of those arrested were planning attacks. These men posted publicly violent words on the internet and they had weapons, said French Interior Minister Claude Guéant.

The arrests follow the decision Thursday from the French government to prevent radical preachers from entering France. The operations will allow us to deport a certain number of people who have no reason to be here, said Mr. Sarkozy.