'Suitcase bomb' checked in for German flight was just a security test

A SUSPECTED bomb intercepted in Namibia that was to be put on a Munich-bound charter plane was only a US-made dummy used to test security checks, Germany's interior minister has said.

"Experts from the (German) federal police force examined the luggage on site," Thomas de Maiziere told reporters after a meeting of interior ministers from Germany's 16 states.

"The outcome is that the luggage turned out to be a so-called real test suitcase made by a company in the United States.

"This company is a manufacturer of alarm and detection systems and these real test suitcases are built to test security measures."

He said investigators were still examining who placed the suitcase with baggage that was due to be loaded on to an Air Berlin plane at the international airport of the Namibian capital Windhoek, including whether German security forces could have been involved in the test.

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