France: 4 arrested over gas cylinders in car in Paris

PARIS

Four people have been arrested as of Thursday in connection with a car found containing six gas cylinders in Paris, near the Notre Dame cathedral, over the weekend, according to police.

According to France Info radio, four people -- aged between 26 and 34 – had been taken into custody: a couple arrested on Wednesday evening near Montargis, about 110 kilometers (68 miles) south of Paris and two others arrested on a motorway on Tuesday in southern France.

The four are reportedly known by French intelligence services “for their involvement with a radical Islamist movement”.

French daily Le Figaro reported on Wednesday the car – with registration plates missing and its hazard lights flashing – was parked at Quai de Montebello, in the capital’s fifth arrondissement, just a few meters from the iconic cathedral on Paris' Ile de la cite by the Seine river.

The abandoned vehicle, a Peugeot 607, contained at least six gas cylinders, one of them empty and placed on the front passenger seat.

“The cylinders were not connected to any kind of detonator,” the newspaper quoted unnamed police officials as saying.

France Info radio said police also found several diesel fuel cans in the trunk.

French anti-terrorism police have launched an investigation.

According to daily L’Epress, the vehicle’s owner who was taken into custody earlier, was released on Tuesday night. Police are looking for his daughter, known to intelligence services for her “radicalization”.

The paper said she was the last one to drive the car and park it where it was found.

When contacted by Anadolu Agency, French police had no comment and the Paris prosecutor’s office was likewise not available for comment.

France is on high alert after a series of terrorist attacks that targeted the country since January of last year, killing hundreds of people. A state of emergency was introduced last November and was extended this July.