France arrests far-right suspects over plot to attack Muslims

Ten people with links to the radical far-right have been arrested by anti-terrorist police in France over an alleged plot to attack Muslims, judicial sources said on Sunday.

The arrests were made late on Saturday in operations across France, including the Mediterranean island of Corsica, the sources told AFP.

The suspects had an "ill-defined plan to commit a violent act targeting people of the Muslim faith," one source close to the probe said.

Another source said the gang was looking to hit "targets linked to radical Islam."

Le Parisien newspaper said potential targets included radical leaders, extremist Muslim prison inmates or veiled women chosen at random.

There was a similar wave of arrests in October 2017, in which the suspected targets were believed to be migrants and mosques.

The suspects were being monitored by France's DGSI intelligence agency, intercepted messages showing they were seeking to buy arms, and searches turned up some weapons, the sources said.

France is home to an estimated 5.7 million Muslims or almost nine percent of the population, according to a report by US-based think-tank the Pew Research Center at the end of last year.