Pak woman detained at US airport

A woman whose baggage contained four plastic containers filled with liquid that tested positive for possible explosives and led to the evacuation of a West Virginia airport terminal, is being questioned by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and is of Pakistani origin, officials have said.

The terminal was evacuated on Thursday and all flights cancelled after tests by the Transportation Security machines and sniffer dogs on the containers indicated possible presence of plastic explosives, officials said, but added that they were yet to confirm it.

A screener noticed a bottle in a woman's carry-on bag as she prepared to board a flight to Charlotte, North Carolina, CNN quoted Tri-State Airport authority President Jim Booton as saying.

The 28-year-old woman was detained for questioning, commercial airline service was temporarily suspended, and about 100 passengers and airport employees ordered to leave the terminal, Booton said.

Authorities in the the US had banned the carrying of liquids on flights last week after 21 people were arrested in London for an alleged plot to blow up US-bound planes using explosives disguised as drinks.

Airport director Larry Salyers said security screeners had detected material in the containers that indicated "it very well could be a bomb."

He said the woman, who he did not identify, was originally from Pakistan but had moved to Huntington, West Virginia from Jackson, Michigan.

Her identification papers showed she was born in 1978.