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By Ike Nnamdi, New York
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Nigerians flying into the United States will no longer be targeted for enhanced screening. In a major reversal of the policy that came into effect after the botched Christmas Day bombing by Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, Nigerian travelers will now be subject to selective screening based in part on whether they exhibit any of the characteristics of suspected terrorists, under new airline security announced by Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano.
“Travelers from more than a dozen flagged countries including Nigeria will no longer automatically be pulled aside under the new security changes announced by the Department of Homeland Security. Additional screening will be conducted on passengers traveling into the country if they match “current, intelligence-driven and threat-based characteristics,” she said.
Officials said under the new rules, if there is intelligence about a Nigerian man between the ages of 22 and 32 whom officials believe is a threat or a known terrorist all Nigerian men within that age range will receive extra screening before they are allowed to fly to the U.S. If intelligence later shows that the suspect is not a terrorist, travelers will not be screened against that description. The new procedures replace those that came into effect after the attempted bombing of a jetliner en route to Detroit on Christmas Day.
Those rules required extra screening, such as full-body pat-downs, for everyone from, or traveling through, any of these 14 countries - Afghanistan, Algeria, Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.
The White House said that individuals flying from international destinations may notice enhanced security and screening measures throughout the passenger check-in and boarding process, including the use of explosives trace detection, advanced imaging technology, canine teams and pat-downs.
The new policy should significantly decrease the number of innocent travelers from the 14 countries who have been inconvenienced by the extra screening, the official said.
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