"New Airport Security Measures"

Tuesday, August 5, 2003

New Airport Security Measures
Cameras, Flashes, Laptops Will Get Special Attention
KIRO-TV Ch 7, Seattle (WA)


Your laptop, your camera and other electronic devices will be getting a
closer look from airport security personnel. 
 
A federal source said authorities are going to be asked to pay special
attention to those devices because of concern that they could be used in a
terrorist attack.  

The government wants closer attention paid to the devices carried by airline
passengers. Authorities will be asked to pay special attention to cameras,
flash devices and laptop computers. 

A source at the Department of Homeland Security said that warning has been
given to airport screeners and law enforcement officers. 

The official said the advisory is not based on new intelligence about the
potential for terrorism. 

Screeners already tell all passengers to remove laptop computers from their
cases before passing through airport security checkpoints. 

A previous advisory called for greater scrutiny to personal items of foreign
travelers passing through American airports to a non-U.S. destination. 

As of this weekend, foreign travelers with U.S. layovers must now have a
visa. 

CBS News reported that recent raids on al Qaeda safehouses overseas have
produced boomboxes and cameras that have been modified to conceal weapons. 

There is some information that terrorists could use the electronic devices
as component parts for bombs or may convert them into weapons like stun
guns.


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