NEW YORK, Sept 22: Security services briefly shut down a newly opened terminal at New York’s JFK airport on Monday after discovering what appeared to be hand grenades in luggage — but turned out to be paperweights.

Officials, on high alert for the arrival of world leaders to the UN General Assembly, closed the JetBlue terminal for 30 minutes.

“There were suspicious items found that resembled grenades in a passenger’s checked-in luggage. We were able to confirm that they were World War II replica paperweights,” a JetBlue spokeswoman said.

The incident occurred on the first day of operation for low cost carrier JetBlue’s new home at John F. Kennedy International Airport.

Security was tight around New York as more than 120 world leaders converged on the UN building in the centre of the city for their annual meeting.—AFP