A handbag loaded with feminine underwear blocked traffic in south Beirut's Chiyah district for 30 minutes after sparking panic that it could be booby trapped.

The black and red handbag was found deserted on the main Chiyah highway, a stronghold for Hizbullah and allied AMAL movement on Beirut's southern edge.

A police official said the department received "a flood of calls reporting a suspicious object. Army units sealed off the area as a sapper opened the bag and found feminine underwear."

The highway was reopened to normal traffic, he added.