TOULOUSE, France // French police say that a gunman has freed one of the four hostages he is holding in a bank in the southern city of Toulouse.
French media say that the gunman claims links to Al Qaeda, and police units from other French regions have been sent to the scene.
A police official in Toulouse says one of the hostages, a woman, has been released. The official says negotiations are under way with the hostage-taker.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak publicly about the subject.
Tensions are high in Toulouse since a shooting rampage by an Islamic radical in march that left three Jewish schoolchildren, a rabbi and three paratroopers dead.
