London's Heathrow Airport Briefly Evacuated

Terminal 3 of London's Heathrow Airport was briefly evacuated after a "suspect package" was found Sunday evening, British Airport Administration (BAA) announced. But the terminal reopened after security officials declared the area safe, BAA said in a statement. "BAA can confirm that the incident involving a suspect package in Terminal 3 has now been clear," it said. "The incident has caused some (traffic) congestion in the area," but "passengers are being allowed back into the terminal building." The statement did not say what the package was, or provide any further details regarding the closure. A spokesman of the airport said the package was discovered at 7:41 p.m. and police were on site, and were working with airport staff to get the terminal reopened. He was not sure how may flights have been disrupted by the terminal's closure. Heathrow Airport is Europe's busiest airport, and is at a "critical" level of terror alert after three failed attacks in recent days. Two cars were found in London packed with explosives on Friday, and a blazing car tried to ram into Glasgow airport's main terminal on Saturday. Five people have so far been arrested in what police have described as an "extremely fast-moving" investigation. Earlier, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said it was "clear that we are dealing, in general terms, with people who are associated with al Qaeda." But Britain will not yield despite a sustained threat from the people associated with al Qaeda, he told BBC.

(Source:Xinhua News Agency , 2007-07-03)