Eiffel Tower evacuated again

PARIS, Sept. 28 (UPI) -- The Eiffel Tower in Paris was evacuated Tuesday and France was on high alert for possible terrorist attacks, officials said.

Police said a call threatening a bomb had been made from a telephone booth near the Eiffel Tower, CNN reported.

The threat came two weeks after another bomb threat also emptied the popular tourist attraction. That one proved to be a hoax.

The latest bomb threat came after one intelligence report indicated Paris could be the target of a suicide blast.

Bernard Squarcini, head of the Central Directorate of Internal Intelligence, warned the threat in France was high. "All the blinkers are on red," The Washington Post quoted him as saying.

The Interior Ministry said a foreign intelligence service proffered a report indicating a woman was overheard suggesting a suicide bombing was being prepared for Paris. That report later was dismissed.

Nonetheless, security has been beefed up, with patrols by soldiers armed with automatic rifles increased at airports, train stations and tourist attractions such as the Eiffel Tower, the Post said.

On Monday, trains were diverted and passengers ordered into the streets while a bomb squad tested an unattended package at a Paris subway station, police said. The package was determined not to contain an explosive.

Tension has risen in part because of the Sept. 15 capture of five French people and two African colleagues at a French-operated uranium mine in Niger, officials said. Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, a band of extremists pledging loyalty to Osama bin Laden, claimed credit for the abductions.

In addition, French President Nicolas Sarkozy has acquired a pro-Israel reputation and gained passage of a law banning Muslim immigrants from wearing full-face Islamic veils in public, the Post said. Also, France has had extensive economic and political interests in central and northern Africa, encouraging and cooperating with governments trying to rid the region of the al-Qaida branch.