French Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux said Saudi intelligence notified Paris last week that the terrorist group al- Qaeda was preparing attacks in Europe, particularly in France, the daily Le Figaro reported Monday.
"The threat is real and our vigilance is 100 per cent," Hortefeux said in a radio interview on Sunday, DPA reported.
He did not give details about the nature of the threat.
The spokesman for Saudi Interior Minister Mansur al-Turki would not comment on the report, saying the government did not on principle speak about issues related to its intelligence agencies.
The warning was the latest in a series of alerts about terrorist threats concerning Europe. Hortefeux said that on September 9, Interpol issued a warning about a worldwide terrorist threat, but particularly in Europe.
One week later, Algerian intelligence services warned France that a female suicide bomber may be trying to enter the country.
Hortefeux said that France has thwarted on average two terrorist attacks a year, and that 61 people were currently in French prisons because of alleged connections to acts of terrorism.