BERLIN: Prosecutors in the southern German city of Stuttgart confirmed on Friday they had arrested a 34-year-old man on suspicion of arms dealing but declined to comment on a report that he may have supplied the militants in Paris with four guns.

"I can confirm that a man is in custody on suspicion of arms trading," a spokesman for the prosecutor in the state of Baden-Wuerttemberg told Reuters, adding that the arrest had been made on Tuesday.

Earlier on Friday, German newspaper Bild reported that the man was suspected of selling four weapons to the militants who killed 130 people in Paris on Nov 13.

The paper said four assault rifles — two AK-47s made in China and two Zasatva M70s made in the former Yugoslavia — were sold online by the man on Nov 7 to a buyer of "Arab descent".

Four emails since found on the man's smartphone indicate that he was in touch with an "Arab in Paris", Bild said. The paper added that French prosecutors believe the weapons were used in the Paris attacks.

Also read: Man held in Germany ‘likely linked to Paris attackers’