One of two US-bound parcel bombs sent from Yemen and intercepted in Dubai and Britain last week was defused just 17 minutes before it was due to explode, France's interior minister said.

Governments, airlines and aviation authorities around the world have since been reviewing security.

'I can tell you for example that one of these packages was defused just 17 minutes before the planned explosion time,' Brice Hortefeux said.

'Yemen is an extremely sensitive country, clearly. We know that in this part of the world there's a strong surge of al Qaeda, of Islamic militancy.' Hortefeux gave no other details.

The bombs found in Dubai and Britain were addressed to synagogues in Chicago. The bomb found in Britain had passed through Germany en route.-Reuters