French arrest five in shoe bomb investigation

PARIS - French anti-terrorist police rounded up five people on Wednesday who are suspected of providing assistance to alleged shoe bomber Richard C. Reid in Paris, the second such sweep in two months. The arrests came as officials in Germany said they had received intelligence of a possible al-Qaida plot to shoot down civilian airliners. Separately, Indian officials claimed they had evidence of an imminent al-Qaida attack on financial institutions in Bombay. And Britain said it was forming a 6,000-strong reaction unit in case of a Sept. 11-style attack.