Passengers and crew wait to be screened in front of the security checkpoint at Terminal C in Newark International Airport in New Jersey. –Reuters Photo/Joshua Brown
The new criteria selects passengers for additional security based on possible matches to intelligence information, including physical descriptions, age or a particular travel pattern.
An official announcement in Washington said that the US Transportation Security Administration will begin implementing new security policy from this month and it will apply to all air carriers with international flights to the United States.
US Secretary for Homeland Security Janet Napolitano told journalists that “these new measures utilise real-time, threat-based intelligence along with multiple, random layers of security, both seen and unseen, to more effectively mitigate evolving terrorist threats”.
Separately, a US official told Dawn in Washington that “the principled engagement of Pakistan’s leadership on this matter with the US resulted in this policy change”.
The official said that US special envoy Richard Holbrooke first learned about the negative impact of the now abandoned policy from Pakistani officials during his January visit to Islamabad.
“And he successfully agitated within the US administration to get the rules changed, as he saw the policy as ‘discriminatory’ and inconsistent with the administration’s desire to build a new kind of relationship with Pakistan,” the official said.
Starting in April, security personnel at US airports will match passengers with the information provided by the Department of Homeland Security for potential terrorist threats. Only those who match the new description for people of interest will be marked out for additional screening....
