A plot by Islamist militants to blow up the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre art museum and a nuclear power plant has been foiled, the French police said.

As France announced new measures to counter terrorism, it revealed how security officials stumbled on the plan after decoding coded messages between a 29-year-old Algerian butcher living in southern France known as Ali M and high-ranking members of Al Qaeda in the Islamic Magreb.

According to French newspaper Le Parisien last April Ali M was contacted by his Al Qaeda contact and asked to make suggestions concerning how to conduct jihad in the place you are currently residing.