BUDAPEST, March 25 — Loik Le Priol, the main suspect in the murder of former star Argentine rugby player Federico Martin Aramburu in Paris, is to be handed over to France, a Hungarian court ruled today.

Judge Judit Csiszar at the Budapest Metropolitan Court said Le Priol had to be handed over to French authorities "within 10 days from today”.

Le Priol, 27, was arrested under a European arrest warrant on Tuesday at the Zahony border crossing between Hungary and Ukraine.

Hungarian police said Le Priol told them "he was going to Ukraine to fight” against Russian forces. Officers found three knives in his car.

A handcuffed Le Priol joined today’s hearing via videoconference from near the Ukrainian border where he is being held.

Appearing calm and cooperative, he agreed to be sent back to France and declined to say anything else.

His lawyer Laszlo Beno told AFP he expected the French authorities to move "sooner rather than later”, adding that Le Priol could be handed over to French police "in the next day or two”.

Aramburu, 42, was killed early Saturday after he and some friends were embroiled in a dispute with another group at a cafe in the French capital’s chic Saint-Germain neighbourhood.

After leaving the cafe, Le Priol and another suspect are believed to have returned and fired several shots from a car at Aramburu. — AFP