Muslims could face tighter terror checks

MUSLIM travellers must be singled out for airport ­security screening to foil future Al Qaeda attacks on airliners, a terrorism expert said last night.

Many law abiding Muslim passengers could face body searches to foil future Al Qaeda attacks Many law-abiding Muslim passengers could face body searches to foil future Al Qaeda attacks

The profiling of Muslim ­passengers is the “obvious and rational” response to deter Islamic terrorists striking against British targets, said Professor Anthony Glees.

The controversial move would reduce queues at airport security gates for other passengers, he said. Many faced lengthy delays checking in yesterday.

Professor Glees, director of Buckingham University’s Centre for Security and Intelligence Studies, spoke out after Christmas Day bomb plotter Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab is said to have told FBI agents that he is part of a production line of Al Qaeda terrorists trained in Yemen.

The 23-year-old Nigerian, who is charged with the attempted bombing of Northwest Airlines Flight 253, said “many more” ­with similar training were ready to launch attacks against the West.

His comments raised fears that his explosive device, apparently sewn into his underpants to evade airport searches, was a prototype for a new Al Qaeda bomb designed to bring terror to the skies.

Last night a British Muslim spokesman condemned the Christmas Day bomb plot and spoke out against any plan to single out Muslims for extra security screenings before they are allowed to board a plane. But the prospect of a wave of attacks against airliners means ­Muslims should be prepared for extra questioning and body searches at ­airports as an “inevitable consequence” of the security threat, said Professor Glees.

He said: “Profiling passengers is the rational solution at this time. If it is the case that Abdulmutallab was carrying explosive materials, it means at the very least exterior body searches are going to have to be ­carried out.

“This would be unacceptable to the travelling public and would make air travel a complete nightmare. I would ask Muslims everywhere to be prepared to be subject to extra searches for the weeks and possibly months ahead until MI5 and the police get to the bottom of this attack.

“The vast majority of Muslims have nothing to do with Al Qaeda and absolutely nothing to hide. But the fact is, nobody who has carried out these attacks has not been a Muslim.

“Muslim passengers should be prepared to give security at airports more detailed explanations of why and where they are flying.”

Yesterday a spokesman for the Muslim Council of Britain said Abdulmutallab’s actions should not be used against the law-abiding Islamic community. He said: “The actions of one misguided individual should not tarnish the reputation of the majority.

“We will let terrorists win if bigotry is allowed to flourish.”

As British security services continued to investigate the background of the former University College London engineering student, it emerged he had been placed on a UK watch-list.

Home Secretary Alan Johnson confirmed Abdulmutallab was refused a visa to come here in May and put on a security list after he applied to study at a bogus college. Mr Johnson said US authorities should have been told. Officials in the US said he was on one of their “long” watch lists but was not on the “no-fly” list banning travel.

Other aviation experts also called for passenger profiling but said targeting them on the basis of religion would be ineffective. “Al Qaeda would simply use other people to evade the screening,” said Philip Baum, editor of Aviation Security International.

Comments Unavailable

Sorry, we are unable to accept comments about this article at the moment. However, you will find some great articles which you can comment on right now in our Comment section.

Would you like to receive news notifications from Daily Express?