The arrest helped "foil a plot in France that was at an advanced
stage," Cazeneuve said on Thursday night in a televised address from
his ministry.
"The individual questioned, a French national, is suspected of
high-level involvement in this plan. He was part of a terrorist
network that planned to strike France," Cazeneuve said.
Following the arrest by the French counterterrorism service, DGSI,
the agency carried out a raid on Thursday night at an apartment
building in Argenteuil, a suburb in northern Paris, he said.
"At this stage, there is no tangible evidence that links this plot
to the attacks in Paris and Brussels," said Cazeneuve, who was in
the Belgian capital earlier on Thursday.
French radio station France Info reported that the man had been
sentenced in Belgium for belonging to a jihadist network. French TV
station ITele reported that explosives had been found in the man's
house.
The arrest came two days after suicide bombers hit the Brussels
airport and a metro train, killing at least 31 people and wounding
some 270 in the worst such attack in Belgian history.
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In November, 130 people were killed in Paris in coordinated attacks
on cafes, a sports stadium and a concert hall. The Islamic State
militant group has claimed responsibility for both the Paris and
Brussels attacks.
(Reporting by Miriam Rivet, Geert De Clercq and John Irish; Editing
by Sandra Maler and Peter Cooney)
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