PARIS, Oct. 18 (UPI) -- Another alert about an al-Qaida plot in Europe has been issued, indicating the terror group was "expecting to be active" on the continent, officials said.
French officials put the Saudi Arabian intelligence in the context of alerts issued in September based on intelligence from Interpol and Algeria, saying the information was "serious and reliable," the EUobserver 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, there was a new message, from the Saudi services, indicating to us that al-Qaida on the Arabian Peninsula was certainly active, or expecting to be active, in Europe, especially France," French Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux said.
Hortefeux said the French national security alert level would remain "reinforced red," a step below the maximum "scarlet" level.
The minister said France, which has 61 people imprisoned on terrorism charges, is monitoring extremist Web sites and "a certain number of people who study at extremist Koranic institutes" who are planning to return to France from North Africa.
