Bomb threat grounds SIA plane at Singapore

Bomb threat grounds SIA plane at Singapore:

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – A Singapore Airlines Boeing 747-400 bound for Los Angeles on Thursday was grounded by a bomb threat, but police said later that nothing was found and the flight cleared.

It was the third known bomb threat reported in the past two weeks in Singapore, where nerves are on edge after the October 12 Bali bomb blasts and several explosions in the Philippines.

“At about 9:50 am. today, police received information of a bomb on board Flight SQ12 bound for Tokyo,” a police spokesman said.

“Police completed investigations at Changi Airport at about 4:30 pm. (0830 GMT). Nothing incriminating was found,” he said.

The plane, which has a maximum passenger capacity of close to 400, had been due to take off for Tokyo en route to Los Angeles.

The flight was immediately grounded and the passengers ushered to the terminal building. The jet was then moved to a remote part of the airport apron, and surrounded by fire trucks and armed police who checked the aircraft.

Changi Airport, one of Asia’s busiest, was the alleged target of surveillance by local men linked to the Jemaah Islamiah militant network who are now under detention.

Jemaah Islamiah has been linked by the United States and others to al Qaeda, the United States’ prime suspect in the September 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington.

The U.S. dollar moved in Tokyo trading on talk of the bomb threat while SIA shares closed down 0.9 percent, or 10 cents at S$11.20 in afternoon trade.

The island state, which hosts a U.S. naval logistics base and numerous U.S. companies, has held 12 Singaporeans and one Malaysian since December for plotting to blow up the U.S. embassy and other sites
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