Namibia | security test terrorist alert

Wednesday's discovery of the package at Windhoek airport came the same day that Germany raised its terrorist alert level. A suspicious package found in a Namibian airport near bags bound for Munich was.the flight was halted, the Munich-bound passengers delayed and news sped round the world that an x-ray scanner had been found with batteries attached by wires to a detonator and a ticking clock.

A suspected bomb apparently targeting a flight from Namibia to Germany was a fake, probably planted by authorities as a security test, German officials said today. that was a device designed to test security and didn't contain explosives, officials said Friday. One aviation official said the test was conducted by Namibian police.

De Mazière could confirm only that the suitcase containing the suspicious package had been manufactured by a US company specialising in alarm systems. "This company is a manufacturer of alarm and detection systems, and these real test suitcases are built to test security measures," he said.

According to tests by experts from the German federal criminal police, the suitcase did not contain explosives. Security services and airport scanner manufacturers are known to run a variety of false alarm checks to ensure operators and systems are capable of intercepting likely forms of explosive devices. One leading manufacturer said today that its scanning machines were programmed to generate occasional false positives in order to keep staff alert. The TSA is reported to have organised several series of tests using undercover agents to put dummy bombs through security scanners at US airports. One such test, in 2007, was said to have resulted in 75% of the fake bomb parts passing through unobserved.

In comments published Friday in the Bild newspaper, Germany's federal police president said the terrorist threat facing the nation was "more serious than ever before."

While urging against "panic or hysteria," Matthias Seeger said "on a scale of one — no danger — to 10 — acute danger of an attack — we are currently at 9. Therefore we need to be particularly alert."

Posted in: world news