MONTREAL - Police arrested a man Friday night for the alleged slaying of a man 17 years ago during the city's biker war.

Witnesses to the 1995 murder came forward with new information, police spokesman Dany Richer told QMI Agency.

Police arrested Eric Beauchamps, 43, in Montreal, and he is expected to be formally charged with first-degree murder on Saturday afternoon.

On Aug. 30, 1995, Real Perron, 34, was killed in a bar in Montreal's Plateau district.

Beauchamps was arrested in 1996 in connection with Perron's murder but was released after evidence against him proved contradictory.

Richer said that Beauchamps is known to police.

Police said that they believed at the time that the slaying involved a drug debt.

"We have to remember that during that time (in 1995) we had a biker gang war," said Richer. However, Richer would not confirm if the victim was linked to organized crime.

A total of 165 people were killed in the biker war over control of lucrative Quebec drug territory between 1994 and 2002.