French police arrest Norwegian sympathizer of Anders Breivik on suspicion of planning attack

PARIS – French police have arrested a Norwegian sympathizer of mass murderer Anders Behring Breivik on suspicion of planning "a large terrorist act."

The Paris prosecutor's office identified the suspect as Varg Vikernes. In a statement, the Interior Ministry said the suspect was arrested at his house in rural central France on Tuesday.

Vikernes' French wife, Marie Cachet, was also arrested, the prosecutor's office said.

Vikernes was previously convicted of murder in Norway and is close to the neo-Nazi movement, the interior ministry said.

His wife had recently acquired four rifles, the interior ministry said. Investigators are looking into how the firearms were acquired and what they were for, it added.