Paris hunts for Al Qaeda female suicide bomber

LONDON - An Al Qaeda female suicide bomber is believed to be on the prowl in Paris, triggering a terror alert, a media report said.

Daily Telegraph Tuesday reported that there were fears of suicide bomb plots against the Paris transport network.

Intelligence officials were looking for a female suicide bomber who they think could be planning to attack the Paris Metro.

The terror alert was issued after receiving a tip-off from a friendly intelligence agency warning of an imminent Al Qaeda threat.

In an unrelated development, security cover was provided to prominent Islamic moderate Dalil Boubakeur, rector of the Paris mosque.

“The terrorist threat is real and today our vigilance, therefore, is reinforced,” Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux was quoted as saying.

The warning Monday came a week after the Senate voted in favour of a ban on full Islamic veils in France, which is due to come into force next year if approved by constitutional judges.

Security officials had identified two separate Islamist sleeper cells that were recently “woken up” in France after the arrival of several Islamic radicals from Afghanistan and Pakistan, a source said.

Le Monde newspaper has reported that French authorities have been alerted to an “anti-French focus” by Al-Qaida’s North African arm.