Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Eiffel Tower Reopens

The Eiffel Tower has reopened for tourists today after some 2,000 people were evacuated from around the Paris landmark because of a bomb threat from an anonymous caller.

Explosives experts scoured the tower and Champs de Mars park overnight but found nothing suspicious. No additional security measures are in place today, several news outlets reported.

The threat came in a phone call just after dark Tuesday night to a private company that runs security at the tower. Hours later, the Saint-Michel train station -- the site of a deadly attack in 1995 -- was also briefly evacuated after a similar threat. Nothing was found there either.

No one has claimed responsibility for the threats, but the French government had issued an increased alert about possible threats from al-Qaida in August and the first half of September. Tuesday's false alarm also came on the same day France's Senate voted overwhelmingly to ban full Islamic veils in public.

www.aolnews.com

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