Alert in US after UK checks cargo planes

The White House was told about the potential threat on Thursday night after authorities identified and examined two suspicious packages,one in London and one in Dubai,according to Robert Gibbs,the White House press secretary.

Both of these packages originated from Yemen, Gibbs said. As a result of security precautions triggered by this threat,the additional measures were taken regarding the flights at Newark Liberty and Philadelphia International Airports.

At East Midlands Airport in Donington,England,near Birmingham and about 100 miles north of London,a UPS cargo sorting facility was evacuated after the suspicious package was discovered in the predawn hours of Friday.

In the package,officials found a toner cartridge that appeared to have been tampered with in a way that made it resemble an improvised bomb. But tests for the presence of explosives were negative,a law enforcement official said.

Associated Press and CNN reported that the toner cartridge had wires and an electronic circuit board attached to it and that it was covered with a white powder.

An alert at the East Midlands airport was raised at 3.30 am and later lifted,only to be reimposed at 2 pm on Friday. A statement posted on the UPS website said the company was cooperating closely with authorities in Britain and the US.

There were reports that one or more suspicious packages from Yemen was addressed to a synagogue in Chicago. On Friday,federal officials warned synagogues in the Chicago metropolitan area to be on alert,said Linda Haase,associate vice president of the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago.

The Transportation Security Administration said in a statement that it was aware of and monitoring reports of potentially suspicious items onboard cargo flights that landed safely at Newark Liberty and Philadelphia International airports8230; the planes were moved to a remote location where they are being met by law enforcement officials and swept.

Shortly after noon,a spokesman for Newark Liberty International Airport,Steve Coleman,said the package that officials sought on the plane there has been cleared.

At a press briefing,New York Police Commissioner Raymond W Kelly said investigators had examined a package on a UPS delivery truck at the Chase Bank branch at the Metrotech complex in Brooklyn. The package had come from Yemen and passed through Kennedy Airport,Commissioner Kelly said. It turned out to be an envelope containing receipts,he said,and posed no threat; neither did another package on the truck that looked similar,he said.

CNN reported that Philadelphia Fire Department officials had examined a package found on a UPS cargo plane isolated at the airport there,and found it to be harmless.

The alert in Britain came just two days after the countrys Transport Minister said he would listen sympathetically to demands from airlines that security measures for passengers at British airports be eased.LIZ ROBBINS