CARACAS - Venezuelan authorities took passengers off an Air France flight that was due to depart to Paris on Saturday after French officials warned of a possible bomb threat, Venezuela's  interior minister said.

The minister, Miguel Rodriguez Torres, said experts from the intelligence agency Sebin were examining the aircraft, which had been about to make the overnight flight to the French capital from Caracas' Simon Bolivar international airport.

Rodriguez told Venezuelan state TV that Sebin received information from the French intelligence and anti-terrorist authorities.

"The information we have is that a terrorist group intended to place an explosive on a flight between France and Venezuela," said the minister, who is also the head of Sebin.

Rodriguez gave no more details, but said it was not clear if the threat referred to a Caracas to Paris flight, or vice versa.

He said the delayed Air France flight 385 would be rescheduled after an exhaustive search had been completed.

A spokesman for the French Foreign Ministry was not immediately available for comment.