Muslim convert who targeted Australian nuclear plant held in France

(ANN) A man convicted five years ago of planning an attack on an Australian nuclear plant is said to be one of the suspected militants held for questioning after a series of raids across France.

A police source in Paris told Reuters news agency that Willy Brigitte, a French Muslim convert, was arrested on Friday at his home in a suburb of the French capital.

Authorities found no weapons, but seized his computer and a mobile phone.

Brigitte was deported from Australia to France in 2003 after he breached his tourist visa.

In 2007, a French court convicted him of plotting an attack against the Lucas Heights nuclear research facility in Sydney's south-west and sentenced him to nine years in jail, with six years non-parole.

It's not yet clear why he was free when arrested on Friday.