Egyptian Arrested Suspected of Carrying Explosives on Paris-Venice Train

French police have detained an Egyptian national on suspicion of carrying explosives on board a Paris-Venice night train, Besancon prosecutor Alain Saffar told Agence France Presse on Thursday.

The man, who is 33 and lives in Italy, was taken off the train late Wednesday and placed in custody after customs officials who had boarded the train at the French city of Dijon confiscated a plastic bottle wrapped in aluminium foil.

After tests were carried out by a mobile laboratory at a border customs post at Vallorbe in Switzerland, an investigation for "transport and possession of explosive products" has been opened, Saffar said.

"The product contained in the bottle had some positive reactions to tests on explosive substances," Saffar said, but cautioned that "these tests are simply an indication, we need more precise analysis to determine exactly what it is."

He added that the arrested Egyptian "said he did not know the nature of the products he was carrying."