Reports at home and abroad say that U.S. security officials caught specific pieces of information that led them to believe terrorists were set to board an Air France flight and hijack it. U.S. officials are bracing for more.

In France, though, La Monde issued this report (translated on this page, under a sub-head "Air Safety")which largely derided U.S. terror concerns and, in the last couple of paragraphs, indicate pressure could be mounting to limit the data Europeans give Americans in the fight against terror.

According to La Monde:

The American secret service has, for the moment, the free access to the computer files of the European airline companies. Name, addresses, telephone number, addresses courriel, number of credit card, preferences food, medical information, hiring of vehicles, people accompanying the passenger during his last voyages, etc, nothing does not escape the American authorities. March 5, 2003, a provisional agreement, signed by the European Commission, but "attentatoire with the life deprived" according to the national Commission of data processing and freedoms, had constrained the companies to deliver their files. With defect, they risk a fine of 6 000 dollars per passenger and the loss of the rights of landing.

A new agreement - which must still be approved by the European Parliament - was reached in December. It envisages to limit to 35 the number of personal information transmitted by passenger, excluding for example the legal history. But the data-processing filters could be installed only in the current of the year 2004.

MORE: Which makes this Cox & Forkum cartoon pretty timely.