Police Arrest Suspect In Paris Metro Bombing, See Islamic Links

A Tunisian believed to have links to militant Islamic opposition groups was arrested Tuesday in connection with the Paris subway bombing that killed seven people and injured more than 80, a French radio station reported.

Police arrested the man after they found he carried bomb-making instructions and descriptions of how to booby-trap cars, said radio station Europe-1, citing unidentified sources.

The suspect lived in the northern city of Lille and was believed to have had direct contact with a network of Islamic militants.

Investigators looking into the July 25 bombing focused on Algerian rebel groups fighting the army-backed regime Paris has openly supported. Tunisian militants opposed to their country’s secular regime have been accused of working with their Algerian counterparts. Both countries are former French colonies.

Police declined to confirm the radio report, but said they had received more than 400 telephone calls since releasing composite sketches of three suspects.

The sketches, all of young men with short, dark hair, were made after cross-checking evidence.