WASHINGTON — The Obama administration will announce today a new screening system for flights to the United States under which passengers who fit an intelligence profile of potential terrorists will be searched before boarding their flight, a senior administration official said.
The procedures, which have been approved by President Barack Obama, are aimed at preventing a terrorist attack like the one attempted by Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the Nigerian who tried to blow up an airliner on Christmas Day with a bomb hidden in his underwear, the official said.
In the wake of that attempt, the administration began mandatory screening of airline passengers from 14 high-risk countries, including Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Nigeria, which has resulted in thousands of travelers each day being searched.
Under the new system, passengers on flights from all countries could be subject to special screening before boarding if they have personal characteristics that match the latest intelligence information about potential attackers, the official said.
Even U.S. citizens traveling to the United States from abroad who matched the characteristics would be subject to special screening, the official said.
