UK and UAE in airfreight security agreement

A YEAR after Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) tried to send two parcel bombs to the US via Dubai [UAE] a new security agreement has been reached.

UK officials have struck the deal with the UAE to deter potential terrorists from using Dubai as a transit point, Alistair Burt, a minister in the UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office, said.

“Dubai airport is a major hub for the world. Everyone passes through,” Burt said. “In places like that you’ve got to be more careful that you’ve got complete security. Making sure everything that comes through here is as watertight as possible has a deterrent effect on people.”

A memorandum of understanding was signed between the two countries at the UK-UAE Joint Taskforce meeting in Dubai on 30 October.

In October 2010 terrorists hid bombs in two computer printers sent by airfreight on FedEx and UPS flights from Yemen to the US. One was discovered in Dubai. The other was uncovered in the UK’s East Midlands Airport, having made it through airports in Dubai and Germany.

The detonators were hidden in the printers’ toner cartridges and were found only after a warning from Saudi Arabia.

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