France arrests Norwegian neo-Nazi over 'terror plot'

Norwegian neo-Nazi black metal rocker Kristian Vikernes, seen in this April 25, 1994, file photo, was arrested in France on Tuesday, July 16, 2013, over fears he may have been preparing a "major terrorist act", the interior ministry said. -
Norwegian neo-Nazi black metal rocker Kristian Vikernes, seen in this April 25, 1994, file photo, was arrested in France on Tuesday, July 16, 2013, over fears he may have been preparing a "major terrorist act", the interior ministry said. -- FILE PHOTO: AFP

PARIS (AFP/AP) - The French police have arrested a Norwegian sympathizer of mass murderer Anders Behring Breivik on suspicion of planning "a large terrorist act".

The neo-Nazi black metal rocker was arrested in France on Tuesday over fears he may have been preparing a "major terrorist act", the Interior Ministry said.

Kristian Vikernes, who goes by the stage name of "Varg" and is reportedly linked to Norwegian mass killer Anders Behring Breivik, was arrested at dawn at his home in the central city of Salon-la-Tour.

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

Vikernes, who was once sentenced to 21 years in prison in Norway for stabbing to death one of his friends, had been under surveillance for several years. He was convicted of murder and is close to the neo-Nazi movement, the Interior Ministry said.

The anti-terrorism authorities in Paris opened a probe into the father of three at the beginning of the month after his wife purchased weapons - albeit legally, as she has a permit. She had acquired four rifles, the ministry added.

Investigators are looking into how the firearms were acquired and what they were for, it said.

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