Monday, January 24, 2011

Attack shows 'major security loophole' at airports


'Security loophole'

"This is a major security loophole," said Philip Baum, editor of Aviation Security International.

"The industry has missed the bigger picture and instead got on with addressing the last-known risk, not the risk to come. We are always reactive."

A suicide bomber killed at least 35 people in the international arrivals hall at Domodedovo, Russia's busiest airport, state TV said, in an attack on the capital that bore the hallmarks of militants fighting for an Islamist state in the North Caucasus region.

Chris Yates, an independent British aviation security consultant, said he had been arguing for years that airport security had been neglected in the rush to stop terrorists getting onto planes.

"Many airports are wide open to anyone walking in and blowing themselves up. It's as simple as that," he said.

Some of the post-Sept 11 airport measures such as body scanners and intensive frisking spawn long queues, which in themselves offer a tempting readymade target for an on-ground militant attack, counter-terrorism specialists say.

The post-Sept 11 dash for more aviation security also missed the point that militants change their tactics constantly to stay a step ahead of authorities, so heightening in-flight security was always going to be an incomplete tactic, they argue.

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http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41238598/ns/world_news-europe/

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