U.S. and Netherlands probe "suspicious items" on flight

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two men have been detained in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, because of "suspicious items" found in their luggage on a flight from the United States, U.S. television networks reported on Monday.

NBC News said one man had been released but another man from Detroit raised suspicion because airport screeners in the United States found watches and cell phones taped together in his luggage.

ABC News cited officials as saying that a cell phone taped to a Pepto-Bismol bottle, a box cutter and three large knives were also found in the luggage and that the man was carrying $7,000 in cash.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said the suspicious items were located in checked luggage associated with two passengers on United Flight 908 from Chicago O'Hare to Amsterdam on Sunday night.

"The items were not deemed to be dangerous in and of themselves and as we share information with our international partners, Dutch authorities were notified of the suspicious items," the department said in a statement. It said the matter was still under investigation.

A U.S. law enforcement official said the men did not have banned items in their carry-on luggage and that federal air marshals were on the flight.

NBC said official concern about the detention in the United States was described as "low," but authorities want to make certain this was not an attempt to test airline security.

U.S. airport security has been high since the September 11, 2001, attacks killed nearly 3,000 people.

The U.S. government implemented new security measures this year after a Nigerian man tried to detonate explosives hidden in his underwear on a flight to Detroit from Amsterdam on December 25.

(Reporting by JoAnne Allen; editing by Chris Wilson)