Amsterdam airport all-clear after security alert

Hundreds of airline passengers were evacuated from two departure halls at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport yesterday after a bomb squad was called in to check an abandoned suitcase which turned out not to contain explosives.

Two departure halls at the international airport on the outskirts of the Dutch capital were sealed off for several hours after a suspect suitcase was found near a check-in desk for European flights, delaying dozens of flights and causing long queues at the third departure hall, officials said.

"No explosives were found in the suitcase," a police spokesman said after sniffer dogs and a bomb squad had checked the suitcase, found unattended in one of Europe's busiest airports during the winter holiday season.

Schiphol, which handles about 90 airlines and 40 million passengers a year, said the suspect case had been found at about 1200 GMT, leading to the evacuation of Departure Halls One and Two and the use of Hall Three by all passengers checking in their baggage.

Police gave the all-clear at around 1500 GMT. US officials had warned that militants might have plotted a Christmas version of the September 11 attacks, which killed around 3,000 people and for which the United States holds Osama bin Laden's radical Islamic network al Qaeda responsible.

"After September 11, I'm certainly prepared to put up with inconveniences for the sake of our security," said British holidaymaker Martin Moore, waiting to fly to Barcelona from Amsterdam with his wife and two children.

The Dutch flag carrier KLM, which is due to merge with Air France, uses Schiphol as its hub. Flights by several airlines were delayed by the security alert.

"Departure Halls One and Two are now being reopened and from 4:30 local time (1530 GMT) we will resume checking-in in Departure Halls One and Two," airport spokesman Ruud Wever said. He could not say what the suspect suitcase had contained.