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Europe steps up security

Flights to London cancelled, thousands stranded

UK terror plot foiled - Aug. 10, 2006

MADRID (Spain): The alleged plot to blow up several U.S.-bound planes with explosives hidden in hand luggage has triggered a heightened state of security alert across European countries.Terror threat levels have been raised to some of their highest levels around the globe, and hundreds of flights were cancelled, leaving thousands of passengers stranded at different airports.

Italy stepped up security measures at airports and other sensitive sites.

The country, however, did not raise its terror alert to the highest level. Premier Romano Prodi said the level of security ``remains high and is certainly not going to be lowered in the future.''

At Rome's Leonardo da Vinci airport, which was under heavy guard, hundreds of passengers who had been scheduled to go to London were left stranded. In France, the Prime Minister convened urgent security meetings on Thursday.

Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy headed a closed-door meeting with the national police chief and top intelligence, counter-intelligence and border officials in Paris.

Air France cancelled all Thursday morning flights to Heathrow airport after the announcement in London. An Air France spokeswoman said the cancellations were prompted because Heathrow was ``saturated.''

The Eurostar train that passes under the English Channel saw 2,500 extra bookings on Thursday. The added reservations came from Eurostar terminals in Paris, London and Brussels.

Vacationers affected

Eurostar was considering adding trains to its already packed summer schedule to accommodate passengers stranded by mass disruptions at Heathrow.

Hundreds of vacationers in Greece had their travel plans disrupted after all flights from Athens to airports in the London area were cancelled on Thursday.

Flights from Thessaloniki, Greece's second largest city, to Gatwick were rescheduled for later in the day, while no hand luggage was allowed in aircraft cabins on any flights. In Cyprus, authorities stepped up security at both the island's airports for all flights to Britain. Poland tightened security measures at its airports and Warsaw's subway. - Agencies

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