Source/Credit: CNN | Breaking News
By CNN | Running Update | October 29, 2010
[Update 1:50 p.m.] U.S. officials believe that al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula was behind the plot that caused a security scare at English and American airports on Friday.
A Yemeni diplomat in Washington says the Yemeni government has opened a full investigation into a suspicious device that was shipped from the country to the East Midlands Airport in the United Kingdom.
Security at American airports has been heightened, the Department of Homeland Security said Friday. Some of the increased security will be visible and passengers should continue to expect a mix of security techniques, the department said.
[Update 1:23 p.m.] President Obama has directed U.S. intelligence, law and Homeland Security agencies to take steps to ensure American safety and determine whether the suspicious package threat is part of terrorist plotting.
Security officials called the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago on Friday to urge the organization to be on alert for suspicious packages, a spokeswoman for the group said.
"We were notified about this earlier this morning," spokeswoman Linda Hasse said. "We are taking appropriate precautions and we are advising local synagogues to do the same."
In the last 24 hours, security officials received a tip from an unnamed ally that packages coming from Yemen were destined for synagogues in Chicago, Illinois, according to information given to CNN contributor Fran Townsend.
A number of items removed from a cargo plane at East Midlands Airport in central England are being tested, Scotland Yard said Friday.
The UPS flight from Yemen was bound for Chicago, Illinois, via Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It had made a routine stop at East Midlands. Explosives officers also are at the airport, Scotland Yard said, adding it did not believe any locations in the United Kingdom were being targeted.
A spokesman for FedEx says that Friday morning, authorities in the United Arab Emirates confiscated a suspicious package at the Fedex processing facility in Dubai. The package had originated in Yemen.
"We have embargoed all shipments originating from Yemen. The company is cooperating fully with the authorities on this matter," Fedex spokesman Maury Lane said.
[Update 1:20 p.m.] A "number" of suspicious packages have been found in England, a British security source said. All were sent from the same person in Yemen through UPS and had American destinations. The nature of the addresses is described as "extremely sensitive."
[Update 1:14 p.m.] In the last 24 hours, security officials received a tip from an unnamed ally that packages coming from Yemen were destined for synagogues in Chicago, Illinois, according to information given to CNN contributor Fran Townsend.
Read original post here: Al Qaeda behind airport scares, U.S. says; security tightened; Yemen investigating
[Update 1:09 p.m.] Both police and airport officials say that the cordon has been lifted at East Midlands Airport in England, where a suspicious package was found Friday morning. The lifting of the cordon indicates their part of the investigation is over.
The East Midlands Airport also confirmed that the package had been found at a generic distribution centre used by UPS. The spokesperson said that the suspect package was never on a plane.
[Update 12:36 p.m.] Police determined a suspicious package found on a UPS truck at Metro Tech Center, a business center in Brooklyn, did not contain anything harmful, a law enforcement official said.
A package in London, England, that has sparked alarm about cargo arriving into the United States had white powder all over it as well as wires and a circuit card attached, a law-enforcement source said. The package came from Sana, Yemen and was bound for Chicago, Illinois, the source said. Investigators are examining two similar packages - one on a plane in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, and another in East Midlands, in the United Kingdom.
[Update 11:53 a.m.] A suspicious package was found Friday morning at East Midlands Airport in England, authorities said. They did not connect the discovery to the discovery of a suspicious device aboard a plane at London's airport.
[Update 11:38 a.m.] A bomb squad in New York City is responding to a report of a suspected explosive device inside a package aboard a UPS truck in Queens, the deputy police commissioner said Friday. Deputy Police Commissioner Paul Browne declined to say whether the discovery is connected to the incidents at the Newark and Philadelphia airports.
[Update 11:31 a.m.] Investigators in the United Kingdom found a suspicious device containing a "manipulated" toner cartridge aboard a plane flying from Yemen to Chicago when it stopped in London on Thursday night - one reason for heightened concern at U.S. airports on Friday, a law-enforcement source with detailed knowledge of the investigation said. The device tested negative for explosive material.
[Update 11:18 a.m.] Investigators in the United Kingdom found a bomb disguised as a toner cartridge aboard a plane flying from Yemen to Chicago when it stopped in London on Thursday night - one reason for heightened concern at U.S. airports on Friday, a law-enforcement source with detailed knowledge of the investigation said.
Two UPS cargo planes at Philadelphia International Airport and another at Newark International Airport are being examined for questionable shipments, the company said. One of the planes at Philadelphia came from Paris, the other from Cologne, Germany, UPS said. The plane at Newark also arrived from Cologne.
The company could not confirm the number of crew members on the planes.
[Update 11:12 a.m.] UPS says it is cooperating with authorities at the Philadelphia airport, and the cargo is being removed from its plane.
[Update 10:57 a.m.] The Transportation Security Administration is monitoring reports of potentially suspicious items onboard cargo flights that landed safely at Newark Liberty and Philadelphia International airports. The planes were moved to a remote location where they are being met by law enforcement officials and swept.
Two planes at Philadelphia International Airport are being examined, fire department officials said Friday. One is a UPS plane, officials said, and the other is a commercial plane with no one aboard. Hazardous materials units have arrived at the airport, where three people have been taken from one of the planes. Those people tested negative for hazardous materials, officials said. They would not say what type of material may be involved.
[Original post] The hazardous materials unit of the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, fire department is responding to an incident involving two planes at Philadelphia International Airport, Fire Chief Carlton Grimes said.
Two people were evacuated from a plane and are waiting for units to investigate or mitigate the situation. He could not confirm what kind of material is on the plane.
Read original post here: Al Qaeda behind airport scares, U.S. says; security tightened; Yemen investigating
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