Visit Indian Travel Sites
Goa,
Kerala,
Tamil Nadu,
Andhra Pradesh,
Delhi,
Rajasthan,
Uttar Pradesh,
Himachal Pradesh,
Assam,
Sikkim,
Karnataka,
Madhya Pradesh,
Jammu & Kashmir
Gujarat
Puducherry
|
| April 2, 2010 | US to discontinue nationality-based 'strip search' pat down security checks at airports | | Washington: The United States is reportedly planning to discontinue its policy of nationality based security checks of America bound travellers and would now select passengers for special scrutiny at airports on possible matches to intelligence information, including physical descriptions
or a particular travel pattern. According to senior officials, following immense criticism of the
'discriminate' screening of citizens from 14 specific countries, it has now been decided that
passengers would be asked for additional security checks if they match certain
pieces of known intelligence. "The system will be much more 'intel-based' as opposed
to blunt force," The Washington Post quoted a senior administration official,
as saying. It may be noted that after the failed Christmas bombing plot, in which
a Nigerian student, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, allegedly tried to ignite explosives
sewn into his underwear just before a Detroit bound plane was to touch down, the
Obama Administration had ordered a significant increase in secondary searches,
requiring all passengers from or travelling through Afghanistan, Algeria, Lebanon,
Liberia, Iraq, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Somalia and Yemen to undergo extra
security at the airport. Travellers from countries considered state sponsors of
terrorism like Cuba, Syria, Iran and Sudan were subjected to the same screening,
including pat-downs and additional bag checks at airports before boarding an aircraft
to the US. Though the US officials revealed that the work on the new policy was
on, it is not being publicised as the members of the Congress are yet to be notified
on the issue. They said the new system would 'significantly' reduce the number
of passengers chosen for mandatory extra screening, and remove a large number
of travellers from the list who had been chosen due to their nationalities. It
is worth mentioning here that Pakistan has been vehemently opposing the US' 'strip
search' laws The Pakistani leadership, including Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani,
has appealed to Washington on several occasions to remove Pakistan's name from
the list of countries whose citizens have to undergo 'full body screening'. | |
More Travel News Headlines
|
|
|
|
|
