Germany releases seven arrested over terrorist attacks in Paris

Germany has released seven people who were arrested on suspicion of connection with the November 13 terrorist attacks in the French capital.

German police near the Belgian border earlier on Tuesday arrested five men and two women as part of a hunt for suspects in the terrorist attacks in Paris.

There was hope that one of the detainees arrested near the city of Aachen would be 26-year-old Salah Abdeslam, the wanted suspect and the younger brother of Brahim Abdeslam, who reportedly blew himself up in one of the attacks.

Speaking at a Berlin press conference, German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere, however, stated that there was no "big fish" caught. "Unfortunately he is not who we hoped he would be."

The German minister said "there does not appear to be a close connection to the Paris attacks."

Police released the seven after the announcement by the interior minister, saying there was "no indication that the persons are connected to the attacks."

ate on Monday, German police announced that they had detained an Algerian man who allegedly warned Syrian asylum seekers in a camp in western Germany last week that an imminent attack is going to be carried out in Paris.

France continues with a massive search and crackdown across the country to find new clues to the shootings and explosions in Paris that killed over 130 people and injured some 350 others.

Officials in Paris said Tuesday that they have identified two safe houses that may have been used by the attackers. Local media said rooms in a hotel in southern Paris were booked from November 11 to 17 in the name of Salah Abdeslam.

EU agrees with budget cuts

Meanwhile, officials in the European Union, in which France has a strong say, announced that they would be ready to give Paris leeway on its budget so that the administration of President Francois Hollande could take into account security priorities in the wake of the Paris attacks.

“One thing that is clear in the current circumstances is that in this terrible moment the protection of citizens, the security of citizens in France and Europe is the absolute priority,” said European Economics Commissioner Pierre Moscovici.

In an address to the French parliament on Monday, Hollande vowed a merciless fight against terror, saying France’s military will significantly increase its airstrikes on the purported positions of the Takfiri Daesh terrorists in Syria and Iraq. Daesh has claimed responsibility for the Paris attacks.

France made an unprecedented demand on Tuesday for its European Union allies to support its military action against Daesh in Syria. French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said according to EU's Lisbon Treaty, members of the 28-nation bloc must give “aid and assistance by all the means in their power” to a member country that is “the victim of armed aggression on its territory.”

In a separate development on Tuesday, a top Muslim authority in France urged its followers to join the anti-terror protests planned for the upcoming Friday.

The Great Mosque of Paris called on French Muslims to gather at the country's most important mosque to say “No to terror” and voice “their deep attachment to Paris, its diversity and the values of the Republic,” according to a statement issued by the body.

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