Israel evacuates air passengers in bomb scare-report

JERUSALEM, Apr 26 (Reuters) Israel evacuated passengers from airplanes today after packages suspected to be bombs were found in several restrooms in the country's main Ben-Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv, Israel Radio said.

A spokesman for national police had no immediate comment.

The radio said security officials had halted all take-offs and ordered passengers to disembark after suspicious packages were found in several bathrooms.

''Passengers were being checked to make sure none had any explosives,'' the report said.

Airliners were permitted to land as normal, the report said, but entrances to the airport had been shut.

The airport has long been under heavy security scrutiny, and has been the target of past hijackings and other attacks by Palestinian militants.

REUTERS SLD ND2144