Terror threat to Europe ‘still active’

EUROPEAN security officials said yesterday a terror plot to wage Mumbai-style shooting sprees in Britain, France and Germany is still active and that sites in Pakistan – where the threat was intercepted two weeks ago – are being scoured for al-Qaida operatives.

The plot was still in its early stages and not considered serious enough to raise the current terror threat level, officials said. Still, the Eiffel Tower in Paris was briefly evacuated on Tuesday evening, the second time in the past week because of an unspecified threat, and police were also on alert in Britain.

“This plot was in its embryonic stages,” a British government official who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of his work said. “This one has preoccupied us more than others in the past few weeks – and it is still active – but it has not raised enough alarms to change our security threat level.”