WASHINGTON (AP) — The names of dozens more people have been added to the government’s terrorist watch list and no-fly list after a failed terrorist attack on Christmas prompted U.S. officials to closely scrutinize a large database of suspected terrorists, an intelligence official said Monday.
People on the watch list get additional checking before they are allowed to enter the United States; those on the no-fly list are barred from boarding aircraft in or headed for the United States.
The review of the National Counterterrorism Center’s massive Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment (TIDE) database was prompted by the attempt to bring down a Detroit-bound jetliner. That incident also spurred enhanced security screening that took effect Monday for people traveling to the United States from or through Yemen, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia and 11 other countries.
The official was not authorized to speak publicly about the watch lists and requested anonymity, but said that after the Dec. 25 incident counterterrorism officials reviewed information in TIDE on people from countries where terrorists have operated.
The Transportation Security Administration outlined the new security rules in a directive sent to airlines Sunday, but initial reports from several European countries indicated that they were still scrambling to digest and implement the new rules.
The time it takes to implement new screening procedures depends on where airlines are operating, said Steve Lott of the International Air Transport Association. “It can happen in a matter of hours or it can happen in a day or two.”
Many other passengers who are not from those 14 countries or traveling through them will continue to see additional screening measures, according to a senior TSA official. For instance, in another refinement of measures put in place after the Christmas incident, it is now up to the plane’s captain whether to require passengers to put away electronic devices during the flight and to remain seated for the final hour before landing. The official was not authorized to speak publicly and requested anonymity.
TSA also said Sunday that all passengers on U.S.-bound international flights will be subject to random screening and airports were directed to increase “threat-based” screening of passengers acting in a suspicious manner.
People who are from or traveling from or through these countries are supposed to have full-body pat-downs and have their carryon luggage checked: Cuba, Iran, Sudan, Syria, Afghanistan, Algeria, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, and Yemen.
