[oema] CQ: UK Terror Threat

From: George Houston <ghouston@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: "Most Significant, Yet Undisclosed Folks List" <ghouston@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Tue, 26 Jan 2010 11:42:51 -0800


> CQ HOMELAND SECURITY
> Jan. 22, 2010 ? 8:04 p.m.
> Unspecified Threat Raises U.K. Threat Level
> By Matt Korade, CQ Staff
>
> The United Kingdom raised its terrorism threat level to ìsevere,î its
> second-highest level, on Friday, while Homeland Security
> Secretary Janet Napolitano was at an aviation summit in Geneva,
> working to secure international cooperation on flight security.
>
> The heightened threat level indicates a terrorist attack is ìvery
> likely,î British Home Secretary Alan Johnson said in an official
> statement. ìBut I should stress that there is no intelligence to
> suggest than an attack is imminent,î he said.
>
> The British governmentís Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre keeps the
> threat level under constant review and makes judgments based on a
> broad range of factors, including the intent and capabilities of
> international terrorist groups in the United Kingdom and overseas,
> Johnson said.
>
> ìWe still face a real and serious threat to the United Kingdom from
> international terrorism,î Johnson said. ìSo I would urge the public to
> remain vigilant and carry on reporting suspicious events to the
> appropriate authorities and to support the police and security
> services in their continuing efforts to discover, track and disrupt
> terrorist activity.î
>
> A British official said Friday that the government could not comment
> on the specific intelligence that led to the heightened alert. British
> news agencies reported days earlier that the government had suspended
> flights to Yemenís capital, Sanaía, based on the threat of al Qaeda
> affiliates there. The timing of the heightened alert also coincides
> with an international conference on Afghanistan taking place in London
> on Jan. 28.
>
> DHS spokesman Matt Chandler said the United Kingdom was taking airport
> security measures similar to those undertaken by the Obama
> administration in the wake of the attempted bombing of Northwest
> Airlines Flight 253 on Christmas Day. Following the attempted bombing,
> the U.S. Transportation Security Administration enhanced screening
> procedures, including patting down all travelers entering the United
> States from 14 countries considered a high-risk for terrorist
> activity, mostly in the Middle East and North Africa.
>
> The agency also began random screening for the general traveling
> population and bolstered security at domestic airports through
> additional explosive-detection canine teams, law enforcement
> personnel, behavior-detection offices and other measures.
>
> ìWe have enhanced our security measures and communicated specific
> information to industry, law enforcement and the American people,î
> Chandler said Friday.
>
> Air Security Meeting
>
> Napolitanoís Friday meeting with members of the International Air
> Transport Association (IATA) was aimed at increasing cooperation with
> the airline industry to meet both international and TSA security
> standards.
>
> The airline trade group represents approximately 230 airlines and more
> than 90 percent of the worldís air traffic. At the summit, Napolitano
> and leaders from approximately 20 airlines from around the world
> emphasized the industryís role in implementing stronger and more
> effective international security measures.
>
> Napolitano outlined several broad areas for international,
> public-private collaboration to strengthen aviation security without
> impeding legitimate travel. These include improving the collection,
> analysis and sharing of information and collaboration in passenger
> vetting; enhancing international security standards; and deploying new
> screening technology.
>
> Napolitano also met with officials from the United Nations
> International Civil Aviation Organization in Geneva and with security
> officials in Toledo, Spain, this week to discuss strengthening
> security standards and procedures.
>
> ìYesterday, my European counterparts and I reached consensus on a way
> forward to strengthen the international civil aviation system through
> enhanced information collection and sharing, cooperation on
> technological development, and modernized aviation security
> standards,î Napolitano said Friday.
>
> The meetings were the first in a series of discussions on the issue,
> DHS said.
>
> The IATA director general and CEO, Giovanni Bisignani, outlined
> several industry proposals following the Friday meeting. They include:
>
> ï Institutionalizing government and industry cooperation to allow
> security policies to be written with the input of airline officialsí
> expertise. The IATA encouraged the International Civil Aviation
> Organization to create a template for global cooperation.
>
> ï Recognizing that prescriptive, one-size-fits-all regulations with
> numerical targets will not secure a complex global industry. Instead,
> governments must work with industry to define practical implementation
> measures for their security targets, the IATA said.
>
> ï Making passenger data collection and sharing more efficient. The
> IATA urged DHS to break down internal silos and create a single
> data-collection and sharing program that could serve as a model for
> implementation by other governments.
>
> ï Optimizing the capabilities of current screening technology.
> Governments and industry must begin to look at future checkpoints that
> combine technology and intelligence, industry officials said.
>
> ìWe had a lot to teach each other, and today is the start of a regular
> high-level dialogue on this critical issue,î Bisignani said. ìThis
> cooperation should become a model for other countries to adopt.î
>
> Matt Korade can be reached at mkorade@xxxxxx
> Source: CQ Homeland Security
> © 2010 Congressional Quarterly Inc. All Rights Reserved.
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
[oema] CQ: UK Terror Threat

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