PARIS (AP) - A French bandit who blasted his way out of prison in April with explosives concealed in tissue packs has been arrested at a hotel, six weeks after his escape.

France's Interior Ministry says Redoine Faid was arrested overnight in Pontaut-Combault with an accomplice.

It wasn't the first time that Faid had gone on the lam.

He was arrested in 1998 after three years on the run in Switzerland and Israel, according to the French media.

Faid was freed in 2008 after serving 10 of his 31-year sentence, then swore he had turned his life around, writing a confessional book about his life of crime and going on an extensive media tour.

He had been arrested in the 2010 death of a young police officer killed in a botched robbery.