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Feds to Urge More Airport Screening Today

Posted on: Tuesday, 5 August 2003, 06:00 CDT

WASHINGTON - The government is expected to instruct airport security screeners and state, local and federal law enforcement officers on Tuesday to give greater scrutiny to electronic devices that might be used in a terrorist attack, a federal source said Monday.

Authorities will be asked to pay special attention to cameras, flash devices and laptop computers, said an official of the Department of Homeland Security who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The advisory does not reflect new intelligence, the official said, adding: "There is no specific intelligence to indicate these items are to be used in any terrorism attack."

The information was already included in an advisory to airlines and law enforcement agencies outside of the United States, the official said.

In that advisory, they were told to give extra attention to personal items belonging to foreign travelers passing through American airports to a non-U.S. destination without a visa.

Under a program that was suspended over the weekend, foreign travelers could have a layover at a U.S. airport without a visa before flying to another destination outside the country.

Transportation Security Administration screeners already tell all passengers to remove laptop computers from their cases before passing through airport security checkpoints, agency spokesman Brian Turmail said.

Spokesmen for the Air Transport Association, which represents most major U.S. airlines, and the International Air Transport Association, could not be reached for comment late Monday.

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On the Net:

TSA: http://www.tsa.gov

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