www.timesonline.co.uk February 14, 2003 By Stewart Tendler, Laura Peek and Ian Cobain

BRITAIN’S airport terror alert spread to Gatwick yesterday when a Venezuelan passenger was arrested with a live hand grenade in his luggage.

Police sealed the North Terminal for five hours, almost 100 flights were delayed, and many incoming passengers were kept aboard their aircraft as the 37-year-old passenger, who was carrying a copy of the Koran, was taken to Paddington Green police station.

In a separate incident, two men were arrested near Heathrow under the Terrorism Act 2000 after a routine police check.

There were signs last night that the terror alert, and the police and military response, were making travellers increasingly nervous. There was also evidence that the alert and fears of war against Iraq were beginning to hurt the tourism industry, with travel agents, airlines and hotels all reporting a fall in bookings.

Police said that the Venezuelan man was detained after his bags were searched by Customs officers when he arrived on British Airways flight 2048 from Caracas, which had stopped in Bogotá and Barbados. It was not known where he had boarded the plane.

Scotland Yard, whose bomb disposal team was called in to examine the weapon, said that the man had no known connections with al-Qaeda, it is not known whether he is a Muslim, and it was unclear whether his arrival was linked to the terrorist threat that has led to increased security at airports.

More than 1,400 police and soldiers were patrolling Heathrow yesterday and police carried out spot-checks at other airports. An RAF Nimrod communications aircraft was also flying over London, providing unprecedented links between the Government, police, the military and security services.

The Gatwick alarm was raised shortly after 2pm when armed police and airport officials began ushering more than 2,000 passengers and staff out of the North Terminal. All incoming passengers were diverted to the South Terminal, where departing passengers were also sent to wait.

Kim Fowle, who works in the North Terminal, said: “A manager told me police had found a live hand grenade. There was no Tannoy announcement. The police just started moving people out of the terminal and there was a bit of a panic.” Her friend Fiona Ritchie said: “We saw women with pushchairs and their husbands pushing trolleys, running as fast as they could.”

David Blunkett said last night that the arrests proved that there was a real threat. “It reinforces that we really do have a problem, as people have been saying that it doesn’t exist. Second, it means that our security services are on the ball. Third, over the next few days we need to follow these leads through.”

Fears about a terror strike were beginning to bite as hotels and travel companies reported a sharp drop in American business. Virgin Atlantic reported that more people than usual failed to arrive for flights yesterday.

The Association of British Travel Agents said that most agents had lost bookings. “The same thing happened during the Gulf War in 1991, when bookings went down by 16 per cent.” During that war visitors to Britain from America dropped by 30 per cent, and the tourism industry lost £400 million. BA has put aside £2 billion to cope with the expected dip this year.

The Dorchester Hotel in London said: “There have been more cancellations than normal this week and they have all been from America. They all said that it is because of the situation with Iraq. Customers are talking as if we are already at war.”

story.news.yahoo.com World - AP Europe By JANE WARDELL, Associated Press Writer

LONDON - Authorities arrested a man with a grenade in his luggage Thursday at London's Gatwick airport and detained two men outside Heathrow airport as the capital remained on a high alert against terrorism.

Reuters Slideshow: Man With Grenade Nabbed at London Airport London On High Alert

AP - Thu Feb 13, 1:59 PM ET Special Coverage   The two airports are the focus of a huge security operation in London, set in motion earlier this week in response to a threat that Prime Minister Tony Blair (news - web sites) has refused to detail.

The Guardian newspaper reported that the alert was sparked by "high-quality" intelligence that Islamic extremists had smuggled SAM-7 anti-aircraft missiles into Britain from Europe. Police refused to comment on the report, which said the intelligence was the most specific information about an imminent threat since the Sept. 11 attacks.

Gatwick's North Terminal was closed for hours and the terminal's flights were suspended after police found the grenade in the baggage of a 37-year-old Venezuelan after he arrived on a British Airways flight from Caracas, Venezuela.

At Heathrow, police said two men were arrested in nearby Hounslow as a precautionary measure and were not believed to be linked to the threat to the airport. They were being held at a police station in west London but police did not say why they were detained.

Britain has deployed hundreds of soldiers at Heathrow, Europe's busiest airport, over the last three days after police warned that the al-Qaida network might try attacking London during this week's Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha.

Some critics have suggested the government has overstated the terrorist danger to bolster support for a war with Iraq.

Home Secretary David Blunkett said the arrests showed officials were not exaggerating the risk to the British public.

"First, it reinforces that we really do have a problem, as people have been saying that it doesn't exist," Blunkett said. "Second, it means that our security services are on the ball. Third, over the next few days we need to follow these leads through."

In Parliament before the arrests, lawmakers pressed the government to say more about the threat that led to the increased security, but Blair refused.

"We cannot start disclosing details of everything we know or may know," he told a news conference. "But it's important we take every precaution we can in order to keep people safe."

Police said the Venezuelan man, arrested under the Terrorism Act, arrived at Gatwick on British Airways flight 2048, which originated in Caracas and stopped in Bogota, Colombia, and the Caribbean island of Barbados en route to London.

It is believed the suspect boarded in Caracas. British Airways has canceled Friday's scheduled flight to Caracas while an investigation is carried out into security checks there.

The man was taken to a central London police station for questioning by anti-terrorism officers.

A Home Office spokesman said police did not yet know what the man's intentions were and urged the public not to jump to conclusions.

The Ministry of Defense said a Nimrod surveillance plane was flying over the London area, but added that fighter jets had not been deployed. Police have boosted security in the center of the capital and at several other airports including Stansted, London's third airport, and Manchester international airport in northern England.

icwales.icnetwork.co.uk Feb 14 2003

The Western Mail - The National Newspaper Of Wales

A MAN was being questioned by anti-terrorist police last night after a live grenade was found in a passenger's luggage at Gatwick Airport.

The 37-year-old Venezuelan arrived on British Airways flight 2048 from Bogota in Columbia.

He was held by Sussex Police and taken to a central London police station to be questioned by detectives from Scotland Yard's Anti-Terrorist Branch.

The aircraft, a Boeing 777 with 125 passengers on board, landed at Gatwick at 1.23pm.

It stopped at Caracas in Venezuela and also in Barbados. It was not clear where the man boarded the plane.

The grenade was found as he went through Customs so explosives officers were called in and it was found to be live.

Part of the airport's North Terminal was evacuated during the alert and outbound flights suspended.

The grenade was believed to have been in the man's hold luggage, not his hand luggage.

Seventeen BA flights due to leave from North Terminal were cancelled. They were mostly short-haul departures. Incoming flights were unaffected.

BA screens 100% of baggage before it is allowed on planes, and was last night investigating if the checks were performed by its own staff at Bogota or by local airport staff.

Flights from Colombia were not suspended.

Roger Cato, managing director of British Airports Authority at Gatwick, said the man was arrested about 2.30pm after the live hand grenade was found in his baggage as he went through Customs.

Mr Cato said suggestions that there had been a controlled explosion were not correct.

He estimated around 100 flights would be affected

Home Secretary David Blunkett said the arrest at Gatwick, and the unrelated arrest of two men near Heathrow, showed the terrorist threat did exist and wasn't being made up.

"Second, it means that our security services are on the ball," he said.

"Third, over the next few days we need to follow leads through."

Hundreds of passengers were stranded in Gatwick's South Terminal as they awaited flights which would have gone by way of the North Terminal.

ITV sports presenter Gabby Logan was among the passengers stuck on planes in Gatwick during the security alert.

She said, "We landed at about

3.15 and since that time we've been on the plane and told that all the planes that have come in since 3pm have basically been grounded.

"Nobody's allowed to leave the plane. Nobody's allowed to get off and go into the terminal. They have closed the terminal and we were told then because of a security alert."

The North Terminal was reopened to the public around

7.45pm.