PARIS: French police said Friday they were investigating the origin of a rumoured plan to attack the Paris metro which spread across the city amid tension after the killing of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.
Paris police officials who asked not to be named said the rumour started when a metro user was warned on Thursday by a fellow passenger of an impending attack.
The fellow passenger handed the man his lost wallet and told him not to use the metro on Friday because an attack was going to take place.
The man "warned the Jewish community" and the message was subsequently passed on to the police who opened an investigation, an official said.
One official said the police were "leaving nothing to chance in the current circumstances" but other officials described the case as a "rumour" and were trying to find out who started it.
The head of France's DCRI domestic intelligence service Bernard Squarcini was quoted by Le Monde as saying that France was the second highest risk target for extremist violence after the United States.
No particular new threat had been received since the killing of bin Laden last Sunday, he added.
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