No explosives found on diverted Lufthansa flight

Israeli security officials on Tuesday found no explosives in the cargo hold and passenger cabin of a Lufthansa plane that was diverted to Cyprus on its way to Israel due to a bomb threat.

The Foreign Ministry declared an end to the bomb scare Tuesday afternoon, after the plane landed safely in Larnaca shortly after 2 P.M., Army Radio reported.

Israeli jet fighters escorted the plane to Cyprus to keep it from entering Israeli air space.

Stella Urumi, a Lufthansa spokeswoman in Cyprus, said all 331 passengers and 16 crew members got off the plane in Larnaca so that it, everybody aboard and their luggage could be searched.

Urumi said the Boeing 747 was expected to proceed to Tel Aviv by evening, and that Lufthansa's managers in Germany "do not think this is a serious call." The flight, No. 686, took off from Frankfurt.

The Frankfurt office of Lufthansa received the bomb threat in an anonymous telephone call after the plane had taken off, said the Lufthansa spokesman in Israel, Yitzhak Zaruni. He said the caller had an Arabic accent.

After consulting with German security officials, the airline and German authorities decided that the threat was not serious and the plane should continue on its way to Ben-Gurion International Airport, said Zaruni.

However, Israeli authorities decided to divert the plane to Cyprus and thoroughly check it there, on the orders of Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz.

"We are not aware of any bomb or explosives or anything of that type," said Zaruni.

	Special police officers at Larnaca International Airport inspecting a Lufthansa passenger plane, which was diverted there after the airline received a bomb thre