An Air Malta flight from London's Heathrow airport was yesterday delayed by four hours as Terminal 4 had to be evacuated after a suspicious package was found. Officials at the airport confirmed a suspect bag had been found and said all passengers were searched, Reuters reported.

A witness at the airport said the whole of the departure area of Terminal 4 had been evacuated and passengers were told to proceed to the arrivals section. The baggage of several thousand people had to be re-checked. Britain's security threat level has been set at "critical" since two car bombs were found in central London on Friday and members of a suspected al-Qaeda cell attacked an airport in Scotland on Saturday. Eight suspects have been arrested in Britain and Australia.

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