Saudis warn of new al-Qaeda threat in Europe

Saudi Arabia has warned France it is the target of an imminent al-Qaeda attack, French Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux has said.

"I can tell you - and it's not information that's been made public yet - that even a few hours, a few days ago, [we received] a new message, from the Saudi [intelligence] services, indicating to us that Al-Qaeda on the Arabian Peninsula was certainly active, or expecting to be active," Mr Hortefeux said in a joint radio and television interview, reported by BBC News.

France is already on high alert following warnings of possible attacks aimed at France, Germany and the UK. The Eiffel Tower was evacuated twice in September over security alerts.

He said the threat concerned "the European continent and France in particular."

Mr Hortefeux gave little detail about the information the Saudis had provided, but said the threat was real.

The the official threat level in France remains one below the highest level of scarlet.

The Saudi warning is the latest to put French security forces, and those of other European countries, on heightened alert. Word of a plot threatening France, the UK and Germany emerged last month.

That plot was said to be linked to al-Qaeda and involved European militants training in Pakistan who were preparing to mount a Mumbai-style attack on the three countries.

Ten gunmen attacked targets in the Indian city of Mumbai in 2008, killing 166 people in a three-day rampage.