NEW US government regulations that single out citizens of “terror-prone” nations for more stringent airline security checks took effect yesterday, 10 days after a Nigerian passenger attempted to detonate explosives on a flight from Amsterdam to Detroit.
“Every individual flying into the US from anywhere in the world travelling from or through nations that are state sponsors of terrorism or other countries of interest will be required to go through enhanced screening,” the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) said.
“The directive also increases the use of enhanced screening technologies and mandates threat-based and random screening for passengers on US-bound international flights.”
Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport operates more than a dozen whole-body scanners, which officials say would have detected the explosives hidden by Nigerian suspect Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab in his underwear had he been subjected to such a search.
The US measures represent a diminution of security measures on flights to the US since Christmas, as they target citizens of and flights originating in specific countries only.
When this correspondent flew from Roissy-Charles de Gaulle airport to Washington at the weekend, flights to the US were delayed by more than two hours while a handful of personnel carried out pat-down body searches of hundreds of passengers and minute examination of all hand luggage.
Cuba is the only one of 14 targeted countries whose population is not Muslim in its majority.
The other 13 "terror-prone" countries (as the Washington Postcalled them) are Iran, Sudan and Syria, which appear on the US state department's list of "state sponsors of terrorism", as well as Afghanistan, Algeria, Lebanon, Libya, Iraq, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Somalia and Yemen.
The new measures institutionalise the anti-Muslim bias critics claim has been practised by US immigration and transportation authorities since the September 11th, 2001, attacks. Male passengers with Arab-sounding names or who were born in Muslim countries are routinely singled out for extensive searches and questioning, even when they carry European or US passports.
The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee said it would file a protest against the new measures.
Whole-body scanners virtually strip-search passengers, showing anything concealed under clothing on a monitor in a separate location. The process is faster than pat-down body searches, but groups including FlyersRights.org in the US say the scanners are an invasion of privacy.
Forty full-body scanners are already in operation at 19 US airports, but usage is inconsistent. The TSA will install 150 more scanners this year and has received funding for an additional 300.
The scanners cannot detect explosives hidden in body cavities and would be futile against a “booty bomb” – a passenger who transports explosives inside his body and detonates them with a mobile phone.
The new US regulations are less stringent than those enacted by the Netherlands and Britain.