A 24-year-old Algerian, arrested in south-east Paris for possessing handguns, other weapons and bulletproof vests, told police he was planning to attack “one or more churches”.
The French Interior Minister said the information technology student had previously come to the attention of the French authorities as possibly wanting to go to Syria.
Police had made checks on him in 2014 and 2015 without finding anything that would warrant further investigation.
In Algeria, the small but growing Christian population have felt threatened by Islamist militants after a French tourist was killed there in October 2014.
Source: Reuters