Security was stepped up at the United Nations headquarters as a precaution on Tuesday following a bomb threat, a spokesman said. «The New York Police Department received an unconfirmed bomb threat so the U.N. stepped up security as a precautionary measure,» The Associated Press quoted U.N. associate spokesman Farhan Haq as saying. According to a U.N. diplomat, the U.S. Customs and Immigration Service received an anonymous phone call saying a taxi would arrive at U.N. headquarters at 10 a.m. with two backpacks filled with grenades. The threat was relayed to New York police, said the diplomat, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because details of the threat were not released. Just before 10 a.m., a line of about 10 New York City police cars, their lights flashing, were on First Avenue just outside U.N. headquarters, which overlooks the East River. At U.N. entrances, security staff were checking the bags of all U.N. staff. Sniffer dogs, permanently based there, were also on patrol. By early afternoon, no incident had been reported.
