Man arrested after uranium found at UK's Heathrow airport

A man was arrested in connection with a British counter-terrorism probe after a package with traces of Uranium was seized at London's Heathrow Airport last month, the UK Metropolitan Police said Sunday.

The man — who is in his 60s — was arrested in Cheshire, northwest of England, under Britain's Terrorism Act.

He was later released on bail until April.

"I want to be clear that despite making this arrest, and based on what we currently know, this incident still does not appear to be linked to any direct threat to the public," Commander Richard Smith, head of the Metropolitan Police's Counter Terrorism Command, said in a statement.

"The discovery of what was a very small amount of uranium within a package at Heathrow Airport is clearly of concern, but it shows the effectiveness of the procedures and checks in place with our partners to detect this type of material."

A very small quantity of uranium was found in a package at Heathrow — one of the world's busiest airports — on December 29.

Smith said that the investigation was ongoing.