Fiji-Sydney flight threat

Australian police evacuated and searched a Pacific Blue flight from Fiji to Sydney yesterday after a threat was made against the plane, but nothing suspicious was found on board.

Officials said 102 passengers and seven crew aboard flight DJ 154 were evacuated from the Boeing 737 after it landed at 5.45 p.m. (0745 GMT) at Sydney's international terminal from Nadi, Fiji's main international hub.

"Following an extensive search, nil items were found and the all-clear was given," New South Wales state police said in a statement.

With passengers around the world already nervous after British police foiled an alleged plot to bomb transatlantic airliners, the incident was the second major security scare involving an international flight within 24 hours.

A woman panicking from claustrophobia caused a Washington-bound flight from London to make an emergency landing in Boston on Wednesday.

The drama at Sydney Airport, Australia's largest, was sparked after a threat was received at a Virgin Blue call centre that a suspicious device was on board the Pacific Blue flight.

"Virgin Blue had a call to our guest contact centre suggesting a safety threat," spokeswoman Amanda Bolger said.

Pacific Blue, which flies out of Australia to New Zealand and the Pacific, is part of Virgin Blue Ltd, Australia's second-ranked carrier part-owned by Richard Branson's Virgin Group.

Ms Bolger would not comment on media reports that the threat had been made in a call from the Philippines.

Security news

¤ Authorities evacuated the terminal at Tri-State Airport in Huntington, West Virginia, yesterday after a test on two plastic containers carried by a female passenger showed a possible explosive, the airport's director told CNN. Airport director Larry Salyers told the network that security screeners had detected material in the containers that indicated "it very well could be a bomb." The passenger was detained by the FBI and being questioned, he said.

¤ A federal judge in Detroit yesterday ordered the Bush administration to halt the National Security Agency's program of domestic eavesdropping, saying it violated the US Constitution.

Judge Anna Diggs Taylor said the controversial practice of warrantless wiretapping known as the "Terrorist Surveillance Program" violated free speech rights, protections against unreasonable searches and the constitutional check on the power of the presidency.

¤ An aide to the leader of banned Pakistani militant group Jaish-e-Mohammad denied yesterday that a British Muslim arrested in Pakistan in connection with the plot to blow up transatlantic airliners had ever been a member of the group.

"This individual, Rashid Rauf, was never a member of Jaish-e-Mohammad... and was never ever close to Maulana Masood in any capacity," said Ismail Hamza, referring to the militant group's leader, Maulana Masood Azhar.

¤ British police said yesterday they had arrested two people at a port in Wales under anti-terrorism powers but that they were not linked to a suspected plot to blow up transatlantic airliners.North Wales Police said a 47-year-old man and a woman, 44, were arrested last Friday but details were only made public yesterday.

¤ The Swiss system of tracking explosives with chemical markers could be adopted across Europe to strengthen the fight against terrorism, the European Commission said yesterday. In Switzerland, each explosives manufacturer uses a single taggant code, a kind of chemical fingerprint, so that the origin of the explosive can be determined even after detonation.

¤ British detectives probing an alleged plot to bomb transatlantic airliners have released without charge one person they had arrested, police said yesterday. But a court has granted them further time to question 23 suspects - 21 for another week, two for another five days.