Paris, Nov 27 (IANS): French police arrested a couple in Ain, central east France on charges of belonging to an alleged jihadi propaganda network, media reported on Thursday.

A French man in his thirties, who converted recently to Islam, and his wife, a French national of Algerian origin, were arrested Wednesday evening after police seized several items, including the flag of the Islamic State (IS) Sunni radical group, at their home, Xinhua reported citing news channel BFMTV.

The couple, suspected of carrying out propaganda for the Islamist group, was placed in custody, it added.

Official data showed that more than 900 French nationals and residents either joined the Syrian civil war or planned to travel to the conflict-torn country.

Fearing hundreds of nationals could return home to carry out attacks after being trained in Syria, the government reinforced measures to crack down on radicalised men and stem the flow of youth recruited to fight in the Arab country.