Iraq-related bomb alert on Chicago-bound United Airlines plane

THE HAGUE (AFP) - Dutch broadcaster RTV Noord Holland said it had received an email warning that there was a bomb on board a Chicago-bound United Airlines/Scandinavian Airlines plane that had left Amsterdam's Schipol airport shortly after 11:00 am (0900 GMT).
United's spokeswoman in the Netherlands confirmed the bomb alert to AFP.
"We're taking the threat very seriously," spokeswoman Margaret van der Heiden said Tuesday.
The spokeswoman was not immediately able to say whether the airline had decided to carry out an emergency landing.
The email, thought to have been sent from Germany, started with the phrase in English: "Bomb to America", RTV Noord Holland's deputy chief editor, Henk Lemckert, told AFP.
It then continued in Dutch: "Flight SK3909 from Amsterdam to Chicago has a bomb (on board) for Iraq. America will see. Message for you."
RTV Noord Holland said it had alerted the police as soon as it had received the message, which arrived at around noon.