French official: Saudis warn of new terror threat in France

PARIS -- Saudi intelligence services have warned of a new terror threat from al-Qaida in Europe, "notably France," Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux said Sunday.

He said the warning of a potential attack by al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula was received "in the last few hours, few days."

Europeans were informed that "al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula was doubtless active or envisioned being active" on the "European continent, notably France," Hortefeux said.

"The threat is real," he said on RTL-LCI-Le Figaro's weekly talk show.

The word of a potential attack by Islamist radicals is the latest in a series of warnings after alerts from the international police organization Interpol and the United States.

The U.S. State Department advised American citizens living or traveling in Europe earlier this month to take more precautions following reports that terrorists may be plotting attacks on a European city, possibly a shooting spree or other type of attack similar to the deadly 2008 Mumbai attacks in India.

France had already boosted security at busy tourist sites like Notre Dame Cathedral and the Eiffel Tower, which was twice evacuated after false claims of an attack. French authorities recorded nine bomb alerts in the capital in September, including the two at the Eiffel Tower -- a threefold increase from a year earlier. No explosives were found.

Speculation on the source of a potential terror threat centered on al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, another al-Qaida offshoot, which took five French citizens hostage in Niger in September.