The US revamped its terror watchlists on Monday as US President Barack Obama readied for talks with his intelligence and national security chiefs on a foiled attack on a US-bound jet.
Tougher screening procedures for all US-bound air travelers also swung into effect at airports around the world, prompting complaints from some countries that they were unfair.
Obama, who has denounced “systemic” intelligence failures in the Christmas Day bombing attempt, was scheduled to meet US intelligence chiefs yesterday on findings of two reviews into a Nigerian man’s attempt to bring down the jetliner.
An administration official said the president would unveil an “initial series of reforms” following the meeting.
The talks in the secure White House Situation Room will focus on ongoing reviews of the botched attack on a Northwest flight as it approached Detroit, as well as boosted security measures and improved intelligence-sharing for US national security and counterterrorism operations.
White House spokesman Bill Burton said “safety and security measures are moving forward even as the review goes on” to plug security gaps.
“There’s already been a rescrubbing of all the different lists,” he told reporters, referring to the US government’s broader watchlists of names of persons with suspected terrorist ties as well as the narrower no-fly list of those barred from boarding a US-bound flight.
“Probably thousands upon thousands upon thousands of names were scrubbed and probably dozens were moved to different lists,” he said.
Obama has directly linked the al-Qaeda network, responsible for the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the US, to the botched bid to blow up the Northwest jet with 290 people on board.
Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, a 23-year-old Nigerian, is alleged to have tried to detonate explosives sewn in his underwear as the plane was approaching to land, but was overpowered by passengers on the flight from Amsterdam.
The administration ordered tight new security measures for US-bound passengers, including random patdowns and baggage checks.
Travelers flying from or via 14 countries including Cuba, Iran, Nigeria and Yemen will have to undergo mandatory enhanced screening before boarding their US-bound flights under the new rules.
The draconian measures drew protests from some of the countries singled out.
“It is unfair to discriminate against over 150 million people because of the behavior of one person,” Nigerian Information Minister Dora Akunyili said.
The Cuban Communist Party-backed daily Granma blasted the tightened measures as “anti-terrorist paranoia.”
A prominent US Muslim rights group criticized the move as “ethnic profiling” that “disproportionately” targets Muslims, including US citizens visiting family and friends in countries on the lists or performing a pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia.
“While singling out travelers based on religion and national origin may make some people feel safer, it only serves to alienate and stigmatize Muslims and does nothing to improve airline security,” Council on American-Islamic Relations national executive director Nihad Awad said.
Meanwhile, the US embassy in Yemen reopened yesterday after a two-day closure, saying successful Yemeni counterterrorism operations have addressed the threat that prompted the measure.
Also See: US set for new airline safety measures
DEFENDING DEMOCRACY: Taiwan shares the same values as those that fought in WWII, and nations must unite to halt the expansion of a new authoritarian bloc, Lai said The government yesterday held a commemoration ceremony for Victory in Europe (V-E) Day, joining the rest of the world for the first time to mark the anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe. Taiwan honoring V-E Day signifies “our growing connections with the international community,” President William Lai (賴清德) said at a reception in Taipei on the 80th anniversary of V-E Day. One of the major lessons of World War II is that “authoritarianism and aggression lead only to slaughter, tragedy and greater inequality,” Lai said. Even more importantly, the war also taught people that “those who cherish peace cannot
Taiwanese Olympic badminton men’s doubles gold medalist Wang Chi-lin (王齊麟) and his new partner, Chiu Hsiang-chieh (邱相榤), clinched the men’s doubles title at the Yonex Taipei Open yesterday, becoming the second Taiwanese team to win a title in the tournament. Ranked 19th in the world, the Taiwanese duo defeated Kang Min-hyuk and Ki Dong-ju of South Korea 21-18, 21-15 in a pulsating 43-minute final to clinch their first doubles title after teaming up last year. Wang, the men’s doubles gold medalist at the 2020 and 2024 Olympics, partnered with Chiu in August last year after the retirement of his teammate Lee Yang
The Philippines yesterday criticized a “high-risk” maneuver by a Chinese vessel near the disputed Scarborough Shoal (Huangyan Island, 黃岩島) in a rare incident involving warships from the two navies. The Scarborough Shoal — a triangular chain of reefs and rocks in the contested South China Sea — has been a flash point between the countries since China seized it from the Philippines in 2012. Taiwan also claims the shoal. Monday’s encounter took place approximately 11.8 nautical miles (22km) southeast” of the Scarborough Shoal, the Philippine military said, during ongoing US-Philippine military exercises that Beijing has criticized as destabilizing. “The Chinese frigate BN 554 was
US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer began talks with high-ranking Chinese officials in Switzerland yesterday aiming to de-escalate a dispute that threatens to cut off trade between the world’s two biggest economies and damage the global economy. The US delegation has begun meetings in Geneva with a Chinese delegation led by Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng (何立峰), Xinhua News Agency said. Diplomats from both sides also confirmed that the talks have begun, but spoke anonymously and the exact location of the talks was not made public. Prospects for a major breakthrough appear dim, but there is
RSS