Breivik-Linked Neo-Nazi In France Terror Arrest

A neo-Nazi linked to Norwegian mass killer Anders Behring Breivik has been arrested in France on suspicion of plotting a terror attack.

Kristian Vikernes, known as Varg, was arrested at dawn at his home in the town of Salon-la-Tour, in the central Correze region.

As officers searched his home for weapons and explosives, the French interior ministry warned he may have been preparing a "major terrorist act".

Suspicions were raised after his French wife, Marie Cachet, bought four rifles, leading to fears he could turn to violence. She has also been arrested.

Officials said she had a legal firearms permit when she made the purchases but investigators are now looking into what the rifles were for.

Vikernes, a convicted murderer from Norway who is close to the neo-Nazi movement, has in the past received a copy of a manifesto from Breivik, setting out the far right militant's ideology.

Breivik killed 77 people in a bombing in central Oslo and a shooting spree on a nearby island in July 2011. He was imprisoned for the maximum 21-year term last year.

On his website, Vikernes discusses Breivik's manifesto, but also criticises him for killing innocent Norwegians.

Breivik's 1,500-page manifesto outlined his planned crusade against Muslims, who he said were taking over Europe and could only be defeated through a violent civil war.

Vikernes, a heavy metal musician and writer, was convicted in 1994 of stabbing a man to death in Oslo and burning down several churches.

He was released in 2009 and moved to France with his wife and three children.