— Airline passengers flying to the U.S. from 14 countries with
terrorism problems will face extra checkpoint screening at overseas
airports, the
A TSA directive that took effect at
targets people flying from or through 10 “countries of interest” as
well as the four nations that are considered sponsors of terrorism.
The countries of interest are:
according to two administration officials briefed on the new rules.
They did not want to be indentified because they were not authorized to
discuss details publicly.
The new directive will be in place indefinitely and
replaces an emergency order the TSA imposed after a Nigerian passenger
tried to blow up a
The order, which expired at midnight, required all passengers on
U.S.-bound flights to be patted down at overseas airports, restricted
carry-on bags and forced passengers to stay in their seats within an
hour of landing.
The TSA plans to maintain some extra security at all
overseas airports by increasing the use of pat-downs and body scanners
over the level at which they were used before
Lee called the new security measures “long-term and sustainable.”
“The 100 (percent) pat-down was not sustainable in the long-term,” said
Most of the 14 countries being targeted do not have direct flights to
The new system would have brought extra scrutiny on bombing suspect Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who flew from
Monday, two top
The meetings seek “to collectively bolster our tactics for defeating terrorists,” Homeland Security Secretary
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