Foreign Airlines Must Add Marshals

The U.S. government said Monday that it will require foreign passenger and cargo airlines to have armed law enforcement officers on certain flights over the USA.

The move by the Department of Homeland Security reflects U.S. officials' increasing concern that terrorists might again use jets as weapons in 9/11-style attacks. Homeland Security officials said the directive to foreign carriers is effective immediately and will apply to flights that are mentioned specifically in intelligence reports or in other information collected by counterterrorism officials.

Aviation security analysts said the U.S. move is significant because until now, international security guidelines have been voluntary. ''No country has ever tried to impose on other countries any measures of aviation security,'' said Rafi Ron, former security director for the Israeli Airport Authority.

Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said, ''We are asking international air carriers to take this protective action as part of our ongoing effort to make air travel safe for Americans and visitors.'' Any foreign carrier ''flying to, flying from and over the United States'' that does not increase security upon a request might not be allowed to land that flight here, he said.

The government's directive comes less than a week after Air France canceled six flights between Paris and Los Angeles after U.S. officials told the French that several people on the USA's terrorism watch list were booked on the flights. Seven passengers were questioned and released; officials have been looking for a few passengers who did not show up for the flights.

Officials said intercepted communications among suspected al-Qaeda operatives suggested that terrorists were planning hijackings. That led the U.S. government to raise its alert level to code orange, or ''high'' risk, on Dec. 21, as peak holiday travel began.

Ron predicted that despite concerns about armed marshals expressed by British pilots, the plan will be enforced because the U.S. market is important to foreign carriers. Some international airlines said they would cooperate with the U.S. request. Others, including airlines in Canada and Germany, said they already use armed marshals on some flights. British officials said Sunday that they are increasing security on trans-Atlantic flights and that they might put armed sky marshals on some passenger jets. Ridge said Mexican officials also are beefing up aviation security.

The marshals on foreign flights would be from the country where the airline is based. U.S. carriers already have marshals on certain flights. On Monday, foreign carriers accounted for about 1,400 flights into and out of the USA. The number affected by the new directive will depend on intelligence data, Ridge said.

It's not clear how the directive will be implemented on cargo flights. U.S. officials have said that the limited screening on cargo jets makes such flights vulnerable to terrorism. ''There are very few, if any, non-crewmembers on cargo airplanes,'' said Paul Page, editor of Air Cargo World, a trade magazine. ''How you would have a marshal on (one) is something of a puzzle.''

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Source: Info Beat - ((http://www.infobeat.com/index.cfm?action=article&id=118420))