Investigator Says France Faces ‘Alarming Threat'

France faces an "alarming" terrorist threat ahead of the presidential election this year, said Jean-Louis Bruguiere, the country's leading anti-terrorist investigator.

France is the primary target of Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat, a North African organization that has become an ally of Al Qaeda in recent years, he said.

"It's a difficult situation and the danger has reached a high level," Mr. Bruguiere said in an interview in New York. "It's alarming, but we are mobilized."

Al Qaeda's no. 2, Ayman al-Zawahiri, named France among a list of targets in a videotaped message posted September 10 on a Web site used by the group.