Suspicious Packages Found on Cargo Planes Bound for US

Photo: AP

Investigators are seen with a United Parcel Service jet near the company's facility at Philadelphia International Airport, Friday, Oct. 29, 2010.

Authorities in the U.S., Britain and the Middle East increased security measures at airports and air-cargo facilities Friday after suspicious packages were found on cargo planes bound for the United States.

U.S. officials are describing the situation as "a potential terrorist threat," but they disclosed few details, apart from noting that most of the incidents involved packages originally shipped from Yemen to the United States.

At the White House, President Barack Obama prepared a statement on international security to be delivered on live television after 2015 UTC.

The president's spokesman (Robert Gibbs) says Mr. Obama directed U.S. authorities to ensure the safety of the American people and determine whether terrorist activity triggered the security alerts.

Air passengers faced tighter security measures at U.S. airports, and television news programs were filled with urgent reports about every detail of cargo searches aboard international flights.

In midafternoon, U.S. military jets were escorting a passenger plane from the United Arab Emirates to its destination at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport. Most of the searches, however, involved cargo planes, including those operated by the international delivery service UPS.

Presidential spokesman Gibbs said the investigation began Thursday, when intelligence and law enforcement officials uncovered potential suspicious packages on two UPS cargo planes flying to the United States. Two suspicious packages dispatched from Yemen also were found in Britain and Dubai.

Unconfirmed reports said the suspect packages were addressed to religious sites, including a synagogue, in Chicago.

Authorities who opened one of the suspicious packages in Britain said it contained a toner cartridge from a computer printer, with wires protruding from the cartridge and a quantity of a white powder that did not appear to be dangerous.

Some information for this report was provided by AP.