Britain intelligence officials have intercepted a credible Islamist-linked terror plot against a number of EU cities.
The threat is one of "a succession" of terror operations the country has been dealing with over the past weeks, a government official said, although the UK's terror alert status has not been raised from "severe".
The planned attack would have reportedly been similar to the deadly commando-style raids in Mumbai, India, two years ago, with cities in France, Germany and the UK targeted.
The Eiffel Tower in Paris was evacuated on Tuesday night following a bomb threat called in from a telephone booth. It was the second such alert in two weeks.
French police closed off surroundings to France's most visited monument. Officers pulled police tape across a bridge leading over the Seine River, and stood guard.
Bomb experts combed through the 1,063ft tower and found nothing unusual. Tourists were let back inside about two hours after the structure was emptied.
German officials denied yesterday they had intercepted threats, saying there had been no change to the country's threat level.
A UK government official said: "There have been a succession of terror operations we've been dealing with over recent weeks but one to two that have preoccupied us. Still, it hasn't been to the degree that we have raised the threat level."
Another British official would not confirm the plot was "al Qaida inspired" but said there was an "Islamist connection" and that the plots were in an early stage. No other details were given.
A Home Office spokesman said it was unable to comment on security matters, but confirmed the country's terror threat was unchanged.
More than 170 people were killed during a 24-hour co-ordinated attack on Mumbai, also known as Bombay, by 10 gunmen in November 2008. It has been blamed on Pakistani militants.
Intelligence officials in Washington said a recent surge of missile strikes by unmanned US drones in Pakistan were aimed at disrupting suspected terrorist plots targeting Europe.
But it is not known whether the drone attacks were related specifically to the plot that European authorities said they had intercepted.
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