Germany probes arrested man’s links to Paris attacks

BERLIN — German officials said Saturday they are investigating whether a 51-year-old man arrested in Bavaria last week is linked to the Paris attacks, even as police in his home country of Montenegro rejected a possible connection.

Thomas de Maiziere, Germany’s interior minister, said French authorities were informed of the arrest shortly after the man was detained with a stash of weapons and explosives in his car near the Austrian border on Nov. 5. The man’s navigation device contained an address in Paris, he said.

“There is a connection to France but it’s not certain that there is a link to this attack,” said de Maiziere.

Bavarian governor Horst Seehofer told reporters that “there are reasonable grounds to assume that there may be a link to the matter.” He didn’t elaborate.

Police in Montenegro said German police informed them they arrested a 51-year-old Montenegrin citizen with “a certain quantity of arms and ammunition” in his car, which was registered in the Balkan country’s capital, Podgorica.

“We checked this information and found that 51-year old V.V. from Podgorica is not known to the police as the perpetrator of serious crimes or violations of public order,”Montenegro police spokeswoman Tamara Popovic said in a statement.

The man belonged to the Orthodox religion and didn’t appear to have any criminal history, she said, adding that German police hadn’t told their Montenegrin counterparts of any links to terrorism or organized crime in the case

“Therefore, the information we have at this moment, obtained from the liaison officer of the German police, doesn’t suggest that this person is linked to a terrorist act in France,” Popovic said.