Woman to wed slain French soldier posthumously

A family lawyer says the pregnant girlfriend of a French soldier killed in a dramatic gun rampage will wed her partner in a posthumous ceremony.

Lawyer Gilbert Collard says that 21-year-old Caroline Monet will marry Abel Chennouf, who was shot dead at a cash machine in the town of Montauban near Toulouse earlier this month.

The 25-year-old soldier was one of seven people allegedly gunned down by Mohamed Merah, a French citizen who claimed to be acting as an al-Qaida foot soldier.

Investigators have so far found no signs that he was in fact under orders from al-Qaida or any other militant group.

Collard says Monet has received preliminary approval from the president's office for the ceremony.