PM urges UK airports to increase security
Friday, 01, Jan 2010 11:20
By Sarah Garrod.
The Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, has today said airport security must be increased following the failed terrorist Detroit plane attack.
Mr Brown said security measures would be reviewed and there was potential for new full body scanners to be introduced at UK airports.
In a statement from Number 10 today, the PM said: "The new decade is starting as the last began - with al Qaeda creating a climate of fear."
Meanwhile, a former close friend of the man accused of trying to blow up the US plane has told the BBC he believes he was radicalised after leaving the UK in 2008. He said Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, accused of the attempted terrorist attack on Christmas Day, had shown no signs of violent extremism during their friendship.
The 23-year-old stands accused of trying to ignite explosives on a flight from Amsterdam to Detroit on December 25th.
In his statement today, Mr Brown urged the UK not to be "complacent" about the threat of terrorism. He said the UK would be examining a range of techniques to enhance security at its airports, in response to the attack.
Mr Brown said: "So the failed attack in Detroit on Christmas Day reminds us of a deeper reality; that almost ten years after September 11th international terrorism is still a very real threat.
"Al Qaeda and their associates continue in their ambition to indoctrinate thousands of young people around the world with a deadly desire to kill and maim.
"Our response in security, intelligence, policing and military action, is not just an act of choice but an act of necessity."
The US President Barack Obama has also ordered a review of airport security. The President said yesterday he has spoken with John Brennan, assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism, about "preliminary assessments from the ongoing consultations I have ordered into the human and systemic failures that occurred leading up to the attempted act of terrorism on Christmas Day and about our government-wide efforts at continued vigilance on homeland security and counterterrorism efforts".
In his statement today, the PM said he would be backing the US in examining new techniques for airport security, "beyond the traditional measures, such as pat-down searches and sniffer dogs".
Mr Brown said: "These could include advancing our use of explosive trace technology, full body scanners and advanced x-ray technology.
"Working alongside the US and other partners, we will move things forward quickly.
"The Detroit plot thankfully failed. But it has been another wake-up call for the ongoing battles we must wage not just for security against terror but for the hearts and minds of a generation.
"I am determined to do everything I can to learn from events of this kind to continue to maintain the security and safety of everyone in Britain," he concluded.