"France is working with European police and on a global level to arrest Redoine Faid," Manuel Valls told Le Parisien newspaper on Wednesday on the sidelines of a memorial service for Aurélie Fouquet, a policewoman killed three years ago in a shooting which Faid is suspected of being tied to. 

Valls added that all efforts were being made in order for "justice to be served with the greatest severity to those responsible". 

The lifestyle criminal, born to Algerian parents in the Paris suburb Creil in 1972, was already notorious before being jailed for robbing a security truck. In his latest stint in jail, he was awaiting trial for complicity in Fouquet's murder and faced a potential life sentence. 

According to media reports, Faid staged his break-out by pulling a gun from his bag in the visitor's room of the prison near Sequedin and taking four prison guards hostage. A tissue-box in actual fact contained explosives, which Faid used to meticulously blast his way through four gates on his way to the car park, where he released his prisoners and set off.

The torched car was later found by the side of a road near Lille.

A European Arrest Warrant (EWA) has been issued. Two days after his escape, global police agency Interpol put him on its red list, stating that he was wanted not only for his suspected involvement in the 26-year-old policewoman's death, but also "in connection with the attempted murder of an officer of the Gendarmerie Nationale".