France was confronting the emergence of homegrown Islamist terrorism on its soil following the brutal killing of seven people, including three children, by a 23-year-old French citizen who was last night holding out in a flat surrounded by police in the southern city of Toulouse.

Nicolas Sarkozy, French president, called for national unity after the slaying of three children and a teacher who were shot outside their Jewish school on Monday and the earlier murder of three Muslim paratroopers by the suspect, who claimed to have been trained on the Pakistan-Afghan border.

Speaking after meeting Jewish and Muslim leaders at the Elysée palace in Paris, Mr Sarkozy called for the country to come together. “We must remain united,” he said. “We should in no way yield to discrimination or vengeance.”