Friday, December 09, 2011

Bahrain destroys suspicious package at airport

A suspicious package destroyed at Bahrain’s airport contained no explosives but a number of tools that can be used to make a bomb, police said on Wednesday, as security forces fired teargas on anti-government protesters in the capital.

Earlier, the interior ministry said a package containing explosives had been sent viaDubai from Britain, whose embassy was assumed to be the target of an explosion on Sunday caused by a bomb placed under a nearby vehicle.

“He (the director general of Bahrain International Airport police) said that after examining the package at the Ministry of the Interior’s laboratories it was revealed that the materials in the package were empty from explosives, but they could be used in the making of an explosive device,” said a statement on the police media website.

Britain’s foreign office had also said it was looking into reports an explosive package had been sent to Bahrain from Britain.

Airport security officials hailed for discovering suspect parcel

SECURITY officials at Bahrain International Airport have been praised for discovering a package containing materials that could have been used to make an explosive device. Police announced on Wednesday that a suspicious package had been sent to Bahrain from the UK, via Dubai.

Civil Aviation Affairs Under-Secretary Captain Abdulrahman Al Gaoud said the fact the package was found proved airport security was of the highest standard.

"Our people are well alert at all times," he said.

"Our boys are well alert. The security discovered something and we dealt with it following routine security procedures.

"We have done our job and we now leave it to the analysts to figure it out. For us, we are concerned with the safety of everyone."

The incident follows a blast near the British Embassy in Ras Ruman on Sunday.

The explosion blew apart the front of a minibus and damaged several other vehicles.

The "highly explosive" device was placed above the vehicle's left wheel and exploded shortly after midnight, showering debris up to 32m away.

Interior Ministry spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Salah Saif later said the explosion had targeted the embassy.

The blast left a hole measuring 30cm in diameter on the floor of the minibus under the driver's seat, while the front left wheel and bumper were blown clean off.

However, no casualties were reported.

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