US pressurizing Pak to provide broader info on air passengers to check terror

NEW YORK - In the wake of the failed Times Square bombing plot, the United States is pressing Pakistan to provide more broader information regarding air passengers, which would enable investigators to track the travel patterns of suspected persons, American officials have revealed.

Officials said that the Obama administration is piling up pressure on Islamabad for information on Pakistanis who fly to other countries, to feed into databases that can detect patterns used by terrorists, their financiers, logisticians and others who support them.

The New York Times cited two senior US officials, who spoke on conditions of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue, as saying that the issue is now on the “short list” of sticking points between the two countries.

Pakistan currently provides only the names of airline passengers travelling to the United States.hey said that Pakistan, however, is yet to respond to the US’ demands.

Officials said that in case of Pakistan, American officials are seeking details like the recent travel histories of airline passengers and how they paid for their tickets.

They also disclosed that President Barack Obama himself has given his officials a deadline of next few weeks to resolve the issue with Islamabad.

“That pressure to deliver results has prompted senior officials like General James Jones, the National Security Adviser, and Leon Panetta, the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), to warn senior Pakistani leaders of the risks to the country’s relationship with the United States if a deadly terrorist attack originated in their country,” officials said while referring to the recent visit of the top Obama aides to Islamabad. (ANI)