French magistrates were Monday investigating the ex-girlfriend of a man jailed for the deadly November 13, 2015 Paris attacks over an alleged jihadist plot, prosecutors said.
But Salah Abdeslam himself was not involved in any plot, the national anti-terror prosecutor's office (PNAT) said.
The probe comes as France prepares to mark the 10th anniversary of the Islamic State group attacks in and around Paris that killed 130 people and wounded hundreds more.
Abdeslam was sentenced to life in jail in 2022, after nine fellow attackers blew themselves up or were killed by police.
Magistrates opened a probe on Monday after finding several discussions or internet searches linked to a "plot for violent action" on electronic devices found at the home of Maeva B, the PNAT said.
Read moreFrench anti-terror unit expands probe into 2015 attacker’s illicit possession of USB stick
The woman, who has been in custody since Tuesday, exhibited "clear radicalisation and a fascination for jihad", the PNAT said. Local broadcaster RTL reported she was 27 years old.
Her home was searched as part of another investigation into USB devices handed to Abdeslam in detention in December last year and this January, it added.
But the couple had separated and had not been in a relationship since April, the PNAT said.
A 17-year-old girl living in southern France and a 20-year-old man living in southeastern France were detained on Friday and are being investigated over the alleged plot.
French official Celine Berthon earlier on Monday said Abdeslam "was not implicated in any attack plot", even if he did remain "radicalised".
Prison authorities in mid-January reported that since December, Abdeslam had used four USB sticks on his computer in jail, the PNAT said.
An analysis of his computer showed the prisoner had accessed "audio files, images or videos, most of them relating to the official propaganda of terrorist organisations, Islamic State (group) or Al-Qaeda", it added.
It was that probe that led to Monday's investigation into the alleged plot.
His lawyers said in a statement that Abdeslam was in "no way suspected of being involved, directly or indirectly, in any criminal project", and that no USB stick had been found.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)
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