French Minister Calls Threats ‘Real’

France’s interior minister said Wednesday that his country faces a “real” terrorist threat, hours after Osama bin Laden released a new video threatening to attack French Nationals if France did not pull out of Afghanistan and lift the its veil ban. Brice Hortefeux downplayed bin Laden’s threats, but said the authorities’ “vigilance is complete.” In a video broadcast on Al-Jazeera, bin Laden said France was working with Americans killing Muslim women, and said the kidnap of French citizens in Niger last month was due to an alleged French oppression of Muslims. France—as well as the rest of Europe—has been operating on a heightened security alert since the summer, and special attention has been focused on a possible attack by the Islamic Maghreb, a group operating out of Algeria.