Bomb scare stops traffic near US base in Netherlands

AMSTERDAM, Aug 30 (Reuters) A major road and railway in the south of the Netherlands were closed off briefly today after a bomb scare at a US military base, Dutch officials said.

''It was a false alarm,'' said a military police spokesman.

A bomb squad was called in after a suspicious package was found underneath a truck at the entrance to the base at Schinnen, which provides logistics and support for the US military.

Transport and security officials have been on heightened alert after this week's bomb blasts in Turkey, and after British police said earlier this month, they foiled a plot to blow up planes over the Atlantic using liquid explosives.

''We took precautions and stopped traffic on the motorway for one hour,'' said Peter Tans, a spokesman for the local police. A major highway nearby connects Germany and Belgium through the southern part of the Netherlands.

Reuters AKJ VV2223