Alerts: Briefcases in Britain

Britain has warned airlines and airports to look out for briefcase bombs to avoid disasters such as the December, 1988, bombing of a Pan Am jumbo jet over Lockerbie, Scotland. A Transport Department spokeswoman said the first warning was issued Jan. 22 and updated Jan. 28 following intelligence reports that bombs could be smuggled aboard aircraft in the LINING OF SAMSONITE BRIEFCASES. The department did not specifically link the threat to the war but said the warning concerns all British airports and international carriers operating in Britain. Troops and armored personnel carriers have been added to security at London’s Heathrow Airport since the war broke out.