[iwar] [fc:Egypt.And.Saudi.Arabia.Won't.Supply.List.Of.Passengers.Flying.To.U.S.]

From: Fred Cohen (fc@all.net)
Date: 2001-10-18 08:35:01
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From: Fred Cohen <fc@all.net>
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Date: Thu, 18 Oct 2001 08:35:01 -0700 (PDT)
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Subject: [iwar] [fc:Egypt.And.Saudi.Arabia.Won't.Supply.List.Of.Passengers.Flying.To.U.S.]
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New York Times
October 18, 2001
Egypt And Saudi Arabia Won't Supply List Of Passengers Flying To U.S.
By Robert Pear
WASHINGTON, Oct. 17 - Federal officials said today that Saudi Arabia and
Egypt had refused to cooperate with American efforts to identify terrorists
and other criminals on aircraft flying to the United States.
Ninety-four airlines cooperate, but Saudi Arabian Airlines and Egypt Air are
among a handful that do not electronically provide passenger lists when
planes begin flights to the United States, the officials said.
The new customs commissioner, Robert C. Bonner, said airlines should be
required to collect and provide names and other basic information about
passengers traveling to the United States from abroad.
"It should be mandatory," Mr. Bonner said. "It should be a condition for
getting landing rights in the United States. We now receive this information
on 70 to 80 percent of passengers on arriving international flights. That's
unacceptable. We should have the information on 100 percent of passengers."
Bush administration officials said they would soon propose such a
requirement. The idea has support from members of Congress in both parties,
but it has been caught in a parliamentary logjam, with several committees
claiming authority. 
For more than a decade, the United States has been increasing the use of
computers to screen passengers before they arrive in this country.
Airlines cooperating with federal law enforcement authorities send data
electronically to the United States when international flights depart for
this country. The Customs Service and the Immigration and Naturalization
Service check the names against "watch lists" of suspected terrorists and
criminals.
Inspectors from the two agencies can then identify high-risk passengers so
they and their baggage can be scrutinized more closely after the flights
arrive.
Airlines participating in this program, known as the Advance Passenger
Information System, receive some benefits in return. Most of their
passengers can pass more quickly through customs and immigration inspections
because the names have already been checked - a task that must otherwise be
done by law enforcement officers at American airports, after the flights
arrive.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation says that most of the hijackers in the
Sept. 11 terrorist attacks were Saudis. One of the ringleaders, Mohamed
Atta, was an Egyptian.
A spokesman for the Saudi Embassy said his country was not in any hurry to
sign up for the Advance Passenger Information System.
"At this time," the spokesman said, "hundreds of Saudi citizens are being
detained and questioned with regard to the hijackings. A lot of them are
innocent people. That number would probably quadruple if we shared advance
information on air passengers with the United States."
The spokesman, who discussed the matter on condition of anonymity, said
American authorities often mixed up the names of Saudis. Hundreds of Saudis
have the same first and last names as some of the hijackers, he said, and
some of the hijackers were apparently using stolen identity documents. The
Saudi government has hired lawyers for many of its citizens detained in this
country, the spokesman said.
The Egyptian ambassador, M. Nabil Fahmy, said he did not know why Egypt Air
refused to cooperate.
"The Egyptian government is the ultimate owner of the airline, but does not
manage it," Mr. Fahmy said. "The airline makes its own decisions."
He said he thought the advance screening was "a good procedure." Senators
Edward M. Kennedy, Democrat of Massachusetts, and Sam Brownback, Republican
of Kansas, are writing a bill that would tighten immigration controls to
keep terrorists out of the United States. The bill would increase security
on the nation's borders and would require airlines to participate in the
Advance Passenger Information System.
Mr. Kennedy is chairman of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration. Mr.
Brownback is the senior Republican on the subcommittee.
Representative John L. Mica, Republican of Florida, also wants to require
airlines to share their passenger lists with the United States government
before their planes land here. Mr. Mica, the chairman of the House
Transportation Subcommittee on Aviation, is proposing such a requirement in
a bill on aviation safety.
When airlines participate in the screening program, they provide the Customs
Service with information obtained from travelers checking in at foreign
airports. The information generally includes the full name, date of birth,
nationality and passport number for each passenger.
Before a plane's arrival in the United States, the information is checked
against the combined federal law enforcement database, the Interagency
Border Inspection System, which includes data from the Customs Service, the
I.N.S., the F.B.I., the Secret Service and more than 15 other federal
agencies.
Based on the results of those searches, "we select a few people who we want
to reach out and touch," said Harold H. Zagar, chief inspector of the
Customs Service at Dulles International Airport.

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