Charlie Hebdo attack suspect arrested

A suspected extremist linked to the 2015 attack on French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo has been arrested.

French minister for the armed forces Florence Parly told RTL radio it was very good news, "because this terrorist played an important role in organising the Charlie Hebdo attack".

The Paris prosecutor's office confirmed the arrest on Friday after French media reported that French citizen Peter Cherif, also known as Abu Hamza, had been arrested in Djibouti.

On January 7 2015, brothers Cherif and Said Kouachi killed 11 people at Charlie Hebdo's office, and a policeman in a nearby street.

The following days, their associate Amedy Coulibaly killed a policewoman outside Paris and four people during a hostage-taking at a kosher supermarket.

The three attackers were killed in shootouts with police.