U.S. officials appear to be casting doubt on suspicions two men arrested at an Amsterdam airport were conspiring to commit a terrorist act, according to news reports.

Video shot with a passenger's cellphone and broadcast on Germany's RTL Television shows one of two men being escorted from the United Airlines flight on Monday. (CBC) Instead, Ahmed Mohamed Nasser al Soofi and Hezam al Murisi, both of Yemeni descent, do not appear to be involved in any conspiracy and did not know each other before they were arrested, two U.S. law enforcement officials told the Washington Post.

The Associated Press reported similar information Tuesday afternoon, just hours after a Dutch official announced the men were suspected of conspiracy to commit a terrorist act.

The officials spoke to the publications on condition of anonymity.

The men have been held in Amsterdam for questioning since they were arrested Monday morning at Schiphol Airport after getting off a United Airlines flight from Chicago.

"In a few days, it will be made public if they will be charged," Theo D'Anjou, a Dutch public prosecution spokesperson, said at a news conference earlier Tuesday.

Investigators were right to be cautious, said Chris Yates, a U.K.-based expert on aviation safety. "Given the circumstances surrounding this incident, the authorities had no option but to act as they did and detain these two passengers in Amsterdam," Yates said. "As to whether that was an overreaction, I think the jury is out on that."

Suspicious items found

Authorities found a cellphone taped to a Pepto-Bismol bottle, multiple cellphones and watches taped together, and a knife and box cutter in one man's checked luggage in Virginia on Sunday.

The items do not violate U.S. security rules and are "not deemed to be dangerous in and of themselves," according to Homeland Security spokesperson Amy Kudwa.

But the man and his luggage were headed to separate international destinations, which, combined with the discovery of the items, raised concerns of U.S. authorities who alerted their Dutch counterparts.

Neither man was on any U.S. terror watch list, White House spokesperson Robert Gibbs told CNN on Tuesday.

Under Dutch law, the men can be held without charges for up to six days.

Men switched itineraries: officials

Video footage recorded by a passenger's cellphone and broadcast by a German television station showed armed law enforcement officers escorting two men off the plane, their hands behind their backs. The officers' weapons were holstered and there appeared to be no resistance.

Dutch public prosecution spokesperson Theo D'Anjou addresses reporters in Amsterdam on Tuesday. (CBC)A U.S. law enforcement official told The Associated Press that al Soofi was questioned as he went through security in Birmingham, Ala., on his way to Chicago, but was not found to be breaking any law.

Another official said al Soofi was supposed to fly from Chicago to Washington Dulles International Airport in Virginia and then on to Dubai, but switched to a direct flight to Amsterdam when he got to Chicago. His luggage went to Virginia.

On international flights, passengers and their luggage must be headed toward the same destination, according to U.S. policy.

Al Murisi changed his travel plans in Chicago to take a direct flight to Amsterdam, raising suspicion among U.S. officials. Federal Air marshals were on the flight from Chicago to Amsterdam, a law enforcement official said.

Security at Amsterdam was boosted this year after Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, a Nigerian student, flew from the airport to Detroit on Christmas Day with explosives in his underwear.

Abdulmutallab allegedly tried to detonate the explosives over the United States before being grabbed by passengers and crew.

After the Abdulmutallab security lapse, Schiphol ordered 60 new full body scanners to screen passengers flying to the United States. Those who do not pass through the scanners are patted down.

With files from The Associated Press