(CNN) -- Authorities were responding to reports of suspicious items on cargo flights that landed Friday in Newark, New Jersey, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Planes "were moved to a remote location ... out of an abundance of caution," the Transportation Security Administration said.

In Philadelphia, the fire department's hazardous material units were responding to an incident involving two aircraft -- a UPS plane and a 757 jet with no one aboard, officials said.

Three people aboard one of the planes were scanned with negative results, the Philadelphia Fire Department said.

The type of material that may be involved is not known, officials said.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/10/29/security.concern/index.html?hpt=T1&iref=BN1

Here's the update as of 4:00 EST

(CNN) -- Cargo planes and trucks in several U.S. cities were inspected Friday after investigators found suspicious packages in at least two locations abroad, said law enforcement sources with detailed knowledge of the investigation.

U.S. officials believe that al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, commonly referred to as AQAP, is behind the incident.

One suspicious package, found in the United Kingdom, contained a "manipulated" toner cartridge but tested negative for explosive material, the source said. It led to heightened inspection of arriving cargo flights in Newark, New Jersey, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and a UPS truck in New York.

The package had white powder on it as well as wires and a circuit board, a law enforcement source said; someone shipped it from Sanaa, Yemen, with a final destination of Chicago, Illinois. A similar package has been discovered in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, the source said.

Authorities were looking for about 13 other packages shipped from Yemen, a law enforcement source said. Some of them have been found and an investigation of those has not indicated they are a threat, the source said.

There is no specific intelligence indicating the other packages are a threat or that they are in the United States, the source said, but authorities want to check them as a precaution.

A Yemeni diplomat in Washington said his government has opened a full-scale investigation into the incident but it was too early to speculate or reach any conclusions.

Investigators were looking for a "possible nexus to terrorism," a U.S. official said.

"We are taking this very seriously," the official said.

The plot could be a dry run to test Western security, another official told CNN.

The Department of Homeland Security said it "had taken a number of steps to enhance security," including "heightened cargo screening and additional security at airports."

"Passengers should continue to expect an unpredictable mix of security layers that include explosives trace detection, advanced imaging technology, canine teams and pat downs, among others," DHS said in a statement. "As always, we remind the public to remain vigilant and report suspicious activity to local law enforcement."

Some Jewish religious leaders in Chicago were alerted Friday, said Linda Haase, spokeswoman for the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago.

"We were notified about this earlier this morning," she said. "We are taking appropriate precautions and we are advising local synagogues to do the same."

Lucille Price, a receptionist at Anshe Emet Synagogue, said Chicago police made them aware of the reports and asked them to keep an eye out for suspicious packages among any deliveries that arrived Friday.

But congregation leaders at two prominent Chicago synagogues, Temple Sholom and Chicago Sinai Congregation, told CNN they were not made aware of any attempts to ship bombs or hazardous material to them.

In the United Kingdom, police were investigating the suspicious package at a freight distribution center at East Midlands Airport, about 100 miles north of London, said airport spokesman Russell Craig. U.K. Home Secretary Theresa May said the package, which originated in Yemen and was addressed to a U.S. destination, was discovered during a search of a cargo flight. The package is being examined, she said.

May sought to assure Britons that "safety and security of the U.K." is her top priority.

"We are urgently considering what steps need to be put in place regarding security of freight originating from Yemen," she said. "For security reasons there are currently no direct flights from Yemen to the U.K."

She added that "at this stage there is nothing to suggest that any location in the U.K. was being targeted."

Meanwhile, U.S. authorities seemed most focused on inspecting cargo planes.

Investigators examined two UPS planes that landed at Philadelphia International Airport and another at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey, said Mike Mangeot, a UPS spokesman. Authorities later gave the "all-clear" at the airport in Newark, U.S. and U.K. officials said.

Authorities are focusing on flights coming from Yemen into the United States, according to the source.

In Philadelphia, six packages from Yemen were found aboard the two UPS planes that were sitting on the tarmac, said a law enforcement source with knowledge of the investigation. Though there was no specific threat related to the two planes, U.S. authorities said they decided to check the cargo to be extra cautious, the source said.

All cargo on the planes was to be inspected, even packages that did not originate in Yemen, a process that will take several hours, the source said

Hazardous material teams were using mobile equipment to check for biological, radioactive and chemical material as well as explosives, the source said.

One plane was parked in a remote area of the airport, by Gate 11. The other was near the UPS terminal, which is far from the passenger terminal.

The Transportation and Security Administration said authorities acted "out of an abundance of caution."

UPS said it is cooperating with authorities, and its shipment is being removed from the aircraft.

In Newark, investigators examined another UPS plane, Mangeot said. Police determined that there was no threat.

In New York, the bomb squad responded to a report of a suspected explosive device inside a package aboard a UPS truck, said deputy police commissioner Paul Browne. Police later concluded that the truck at the Metro Tech Center facility contained nothing harmful.

Thanks for posting the update.

Word on the street is that this was a "dry run"....a bit of a test if you will....

_________________
If it's in your pack, but you don't know how to use it...it's useless. So, always test your skills as a form of preparation...Don't wait until your life depends on it. That's a lesson you don't want to learn the hard way.

If I remember correctly, the terrorists did a dry run one week before 9/11. Should be expecting something big to go down next week?

_________________
Please don't take my avatar to seriously. I'm really not a bible thumping armageddon prophet.

Just turned on the tv and saw the news flash. God I hope this isn't a sign of what is to come.

I didn't really think that they would use planes the next time they tried something big. Considering how much money is spent on airplane security these days how could these packages get on board? After all the security attention given to airline security now, and this happens, just imagine what they could accomplish in less secure areas like parking garages and malls.

Uh, maybe I should get my survival kit completed real soon now.

well these were international flights so I would imagine that the security might be a bit less than on US soil. but this is still scary and unacceptable. Wonder what the Prez will have to say about this.

_________________
Please don't take my avatar to seriously. I'm really not a bible thumping armageddon prophet.

They're now saying that they don't think it was a dry run because the packages did contain real explosives. Perhaps for PR purposes they just want to be able to call this a thwarted terrorist attack.

US says al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula behind cargo terror plot

(CNN) -- U.S. officials say that al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, a fairly new arm of the umbrella terrorist organization, is behind an apparent plot to send explosive devices to U.S. destinations via cargo planes.

"Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is an organization of several hundred individuals that are dispersed throughout the country," presidential counterterrorism advisor John Brennan told reporters Friday. "They are murderers and they are determined to carry out attacks on innocent lives, whether they be Yemeni, Americans, Westerners or others. ...

"If anything, this just demonstrates to us and, I think to the Yemenis as well, that we need to redouble our efforts so that we're able to destroy al Qaeda, and we will."

Brennan pointed to the botched attempt last Christmas to blow up a Northwest Airlines passenger jet en route from Amsterdam, Netherlands, to Detroit, Michigan, on Christmas Day. U.S. and Yemeni officials have linked the attempt by man who tried to ignite explosives in his underwear to al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.

Formed in 2009, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is a regional terrorist group known for targeting government and Western interests in Yemen and Saudi Arabia. Yemeni forces, with support from their U.S. allies, have stepped up military and political pressure on the group in recent weeks, despite continued threats from its leader.

A key figure in the group is Yemeni-American militant cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, whom U.S. authorities have linked to Fort Hood shooting suspect Maj. Nidal Hasan as well as the man accused in the Christmas Day bomb attempt. Brennan would not specifically name al-Awlaki as a suspect.

"Anybody who's associated with al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is a subject of concern," he said.

"Clearly what we are doing is looking at all individuals that we think might be involved in this," Brennan said. "Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has been rather open in its venom towards the United States, towards Western interests. There are a number of individuals there that we're concerned about, so we're looking at all possibilities."

A senior U.S. defense official called al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula a "sophisticated" organization.

Combating the terror group has been a major focus for U.S. counterterrorism authorities, with Friday's incident underscoring the need for U.S. cooperation with Yemen, Obama said Friday.

"We ... know that al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula continues to plan attacks against our homeland, our citizens, and our friends and allies," said Obama. "Going forward, we will continue to strengthen our cooperation with the Yemeni government ... to destroy this al Qaeda affiliate."

Brennan said he talked Friday with Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh about the threat posed by al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and how to address it, receiving assurances from the Yemeni leader that they'd cooperate on the investigation.

These high-level talks are the latest in a series of collaborative efforts between U.S. and Yemeni officials and forces.

Earlier this year, the United States approved $150 million to train and equip Yemeni forces so they could fight al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. Up to 50 U.S. special operations troops are now in the Middle Eastern country training Yemen's military personnel.

In addition, Yemeni and U.S. authorities have been sharing surveillance and other intelligence information culled from inside Yemen, a senior U.S. defense official said.

But Yemen announced Friday via its official news agency, Saba, that the army had ended its latest campaign against AQAP without finding any elements of the terror group.

"We found traces in the area of Khawaw indicating that al Qaeda elements were in this region three days ago," said Mahdi Abdul-Salam, a commander of the military campaign, adding that the extremist organization is no longer in the al-Kur mountain range in Yemen's southeast.

Many of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula's members previously belonged to al Qaeda in Yemen. The National Counterterrorism Center says that group carried out suicide attacks on a Yemeni oil facility in 2006 and mortar attacks two years later on the U.S. Embassy in Yemen's capital, Sanaa, Yemeni military complexes, the Italian Embassy and the Yemeni presidential compound.

Later in 2008, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula detonated two car bombs outside the U.S. Embassy in Sanaa, killing 19 people, including six of its own members, according to the National Counterterrorism Center.

Since forming under its new name, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has been tied to a pair of suicide bombings that targeted South Korean tourists.

On Monday, 15 suspected members of the group surrendered in Yemen's southern Abyan province, according to provincial Gov. Ahmed al-Maisari. The surrenders followed meetings with the governor and tribal sheikhs in the towns of Loudar and Moudeya.

Earlier in the month, Qassim al-Rimi (also known as Abu Hurira al-Sanaei), the military commander of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, posted an audio recording on radical militant websites.

The speaker promised that Yemen's president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, would be punished "for his crimes" and announced that a new army would rid the country of "crusaders and apostates." CNN could not verify the authenticity of the recording.