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Governments have strengthened air-security measures after two packages mailed in Yemen were found on US-bound cargo flights in an alleged Al Qaeda plot. The US, the UK and France imposed a temporary ban on air cargo from Yemen as a "precautionary initiative" shortly after the plot was intercepted in Dubai and Britain last week. The Netherlands declared the same ban Tuesday, despite no direct flights there from Yemen. Germany went as far Monday as suspending all flights from Yemeni airports. Yemen criticized Western administrations - especially Germany - earlier for the "collective penalties," eagerly calling for assistance, rather than punishment, in the face of terrorism. The nation also announced a crackdown on cargo shipments Monday and launched a military and intelligence operation in the provinces of Maarib and Shabwa to capture the key suspects - Ibrahim al-Asiri and Anwar al-Awlaki. The plot highlighted a loophole in aviation security, as Qatar Airways confirmed that the explosives were powerful enough to destroy the planes carrying them. Extra measures were successively taken in light of the foiled attempt as Washington enhanced protocols for screening inbound cargo and dispatched experts to help train officials in cargo screening at the Sana'a airport, said John Pistole, the chief of the Transportation Security Ad-ministration. Moreover, strict rules implemented Monday require the collection of passengers' full names, dates of birth and genders on all flights to and from US airports just to ensure those on the "no fly" list are kept off planes. The US military currently oversees a $155 million program to bolster Yemen's counter-terrorism campaign, providing helicopters, equipment, training and widely reported missile strikes against militants. The Pentagon, however, strongly denied a report that the US has considered launching "hunter-killer" teams under the CIA that would operate secretly in Yemen to fight Al Qaeda. Separately, UK Prime Minister David Cameron vowed to join his Middle Eastern counterparts to combat terrorism lurking in the Arabian Peninsula. "The fact that the device was being carried from Yemen to the United Arab Emirates to Germany to Britain en route to America shows the interest of the whole world in coming together to deal with this," he said. Agencies |
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