UK to re-screen air cargo from India, Pak in wake of recent parcel bomb plots

ISLAMABAD - The British authorities have taken stringent precautionary action to check cargo coming from certain ports, including India and Pakistan, in the wake of the recent parcel bomb plots.

“Cargo originating from some cities in India, Qatar, Pakistan, Iran, Bangladesh, Thailand, the Maldives, Sudan and Libya will have to be re-screened after arriving in Britain before being loaded onto onward flights,” The News quoted Britain’s Transport Secretary Philip Hammond, as saying.

Currently, such flights do not need to be screened in the United Kingdom.

After a meeting with industry representatives in London, Hammond said that they also discussed a proposed system of grading countries sending air cargo to the UK, according to the perceived risk.

He indicated that countries having screening measures matching those of the UK and the European Union could have easier access to the UK than those that do not.

Last week, investigators had found two bombs wired to cell phones and hidden in the toner cartridges of computer printers when they had pulled some Chicago-bound packages off cargo planes in England and the United Arab Emirates. The packages were sent from Yemen.

Following the uncovering of the plot, which is being blamed on al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, the UK has banned all air cargo from Somalia and Yemen. (ANI)