UK hit by security alerts

A Venezuelan man carrying a live hand grenade was arrested at Britain's Gatwick airport yesterday by police on high alert for a terror attack.

Two people were also arrested close to Heathrow airport, on the outskirts of London, as police and troops heightened security.

Police said the 37-year-old Venezuelan was arrested by officers after he arrived at the airport, Britain's busiest after Heathrow, from Colombia and a suspicious item was found in his luggage.

"The item was examined by explosives officers and it appears to be a live grenade," a police spokeswoman said. He has been handed over to anti-terrorist police and taken to London.

The north terminal at Gatwick, south of London, was closed and all outgoing flights suspended. Incoming flights were re-routed to the airport's south terminal, where many passengers evacuated from the north terminal waited for news.

The north terminal re-opened at 8.25 p.m. and ground staff said flights resumed shortly afterwards.

At Heathrow, on London's western outskirts, anti-terrorist police said they arrested two men. A police spokesman said they had been detained in the suburb of Hounslow, near the airport.

A police source however said the Hounslow arrests were precautionary and did not appear to be significant.

In the United States, anti-aircraft missiles protected the Pentagon - one of the targets of the September 11 attacks - and F-16 fighters were placed on 24-hour alert near Washington.

Police circled New York's Grand Central Station, stopping and searching vans while extra police patrolled streets.

In the largest security operation in the history of Britain's Metropolitan police force, troops in tanks and armed police patrolled London's Heathrow airport, surrounding it with a ring of steel.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair, US President George W. Bush's closest ally in the war on terror, said it was vital "to do absolutely everything we can to root these terrorists out".

As an extra 1,700 police were drafted in for counter-terror operations in London, interior minister David Blunkett told parliament Britain faced a "real and serious threat" from al Qaeda.

In a city hardened by guerilla attacks by Irish republicans, London police chief John Stevens said: "The level of the threat is extremely high. That is why we have taken the steps we have. This is the largest police operation of its kind."

In the Gulf, where anti-US sentiments are running high, tight security measures are already in place over a possible US-led war on Iraq.

In Switzerland, the US authorities shut down their consular sections in Zurich and Geneva.

Bin Laden's whereabouts are unknown but Tenet said "multiple sources with strong al Qaeda ties" had reported threats.

Some jittery New Yorkers were taking extreme measures. Proprietors at two Manhattan shops said they had sold several hundred $300 chemical protection suits this week.

And in Israel, people were advised by the Defence Ministry to stockpile food and water against the possibility of Iraqi missile attacks in the event of a US-led war against Iraq.