Security Roundup

Air Safety Week, July 16, 2007

On 30 June a blazing suicide car-bomb, and attempted self-immolation by two terrorist Indian doctors at the airport in the Scottish city of Glasgow escalated Britain's fear of a wave of terrorist attacks. The blazing Cherokee jeep was driven at speed into the terminal building's entrance at Glasgow Airport, but stalled. Police said three men had been arrested and that confederates were also being interrogated in Australia. The Glasgow incident came 24 hours after two car bombs were discovered and defused in central London.

Date: 9-Jul
Incident: A congressional report reveals that as of May 1, about a quarter of
the Department of Homeland Security's top 575 posts are vacant, creating a
"gaping hole" in the preparedness of the nation for threats, such as terrorist
attacks. A DHS spokesman says the numbers are also skewed by the recent addition
of a number of top management positions. The DHS has one of the largest rosters
of senior political appointees in the federal government, in part because of how
it was created. The DHS claims it has never had more than 220 senior political
appointees, however the Office of Personnel Management told Congress of more
than 360 in 2004.

Date: 9-Jul
Incident: All passengers leaving New Zealand airports for international
destinations are about to be tested for explosives. US-bound passengers have
been tested since late last year but random testing will be extended to all
passengers, their carry-on bags and accoutrements by the beginning of August.
Aviation Security Service general manager Mark Everitt said luggage is already
screened for traces of explosives, but the new state-of-the-art testing
equipment will be able to detect a wide range of explosives. Explosive trace
detection will be done randomly on passengers and their carry-on bags after they
have passed through x-rays and metal detectors.

Date: 6-Jul
Incident: In September, Heathrow Airport will become the largest in Europe to
trial RFID-based tags for tracking passenger luggage, comparing accuracy and
read rates against their existing barcode-based systems. Radio Frequency
Identification tags are a throw-away technology which can be embedded in the
labels attached to luggage on check-in, and then be read from a distance of a
meter or so (depending on the technology) as the luggage makes its way around
the world. From a security point of view, no-one seems able to explain how a
non-RFID-chipped bag (i.e. one that shouldn't be present) is ever going to be
detected in an RFID-based system.

Date: 4-Jul
Incident: The Congressional Research Service has released a new report that
analyzes the terrorist threat and its counters. "Combating Terrorism: The
Challenge of Measuring Effectiveness" points out that terrorism is a complex,
multidimensional problem that requires responses that can adapt to "the evolving
goals, strategies, tactics, and operating environment of the different terrorist
groups." Report is at tinyurl.com/36v4q6

Date: 1-Jul
Incident: A young Muslim boarded a Thomsonfly flight at Newcastle International
Airport, flight TOM 4125 to Malaga, with friends. He asked staff if he could go
in the galley area - which can be curtained off from passengers - and offer
prayers before the flight took off. The flight attendant passed the request on
to the plane's captain who promptly ordered the man off the aircraft.
Northumbria Police officers were waiting for the man in the departure lounge and
searched him under terrorism laws. All they found was a bottle of water, used by
Muslims to wash themselves before prayer, a compass to ensure he was facing the
holy city of Mecca, and a traditional prayer-mat.

Date: 30-Jun
Incident: The four conspirators arrested in the plot to blow up JFK Airport have
been indicted. Prosecutors said the accused were Islamic extremists who sought
to blow up the airport's fuel tanks and the 64 kilometer pipeline feeding them
from New Jersey. When the plot was disclosed, law enforcement officials
initially described it as "chilling", but authorities have since acknowledged
the plot was more "aspirational" than operational and posed no immediate threat.
The men face a maximum of life in prison if convicted on the most serious charge
of planning to attack a public transportation system.

Date: 27-Jun
Incident: AN American woman was detained in Bolivia after arriving on an
American Airlines flight from Miami with 500 bullets in her luggage, the state
news agency has reported. She arrived from Miami, on an American Airlines plane,
carrying five boxes of bullets, each one containing 100 .45-caliber bullets,"
ABI quoted national immigrations director Magaly Zegarra as saying. Citing the
tight security at US airports, Mr Zegarra said it was "incredible that she was
able to pass through Miami with luggage containing five boxes of bullets."

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