French police stopped an apparent bomb attack outside a US bank in Paris early on Saturday when they arrested a man about to set off a homemade explosive device, officials and sources close to the case told AFP.

Police grabbed the man just after he placed a device, made of five litres of liquid, believed to be fuel, and an ignition system, one of the sources said.

He was accompanied by a second person, who took flight when officers arrived to arrest the pair.

The ignition component had 650 grams of explosive powder in it, according to an initial assessment. The whole device was taken to the Paris police's forensics lab for full analysis.

France's counter-terrorism prosecutor's office told AFP it had immediately taken over the investigation, and confirmed the suspect caught was in police custody.

It said the probe it has launched was into "attempted damage by fire or other dangerous means in connection with a terrorist undertaking" and a "terrorist criminal conspiracy".

Both the Paris judicial police and France's domestic intelligence service, the General Directorate for Internal Security (DGSI), were involved in the probe, the office told AFP.

France's Interior Minister, Laurent Nunez, on X hailed the speedy action by the police officers, given "the current international situation".

Speaking later to news channel BFMTV, he said he thought the war in the Middle East might have motivated the attack.

"I make a link between the actions carried out in neighbouring countries" and claimed by "small groups that referred to the conflict," he said.

Since the outbreak of the war of the Middle East, European countries have been on high alert for potential attacks on Iranian dissidents, Jewish places of worship and US-Israeli assets. (AFP)


Edited by Tony Sabine