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Europe
Amsterdam airport tightens security after sting
2010-03-10
THE HAGUE, Netherlands -- Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport -- the departure site for the Detroit underwear bomber -- tightened security Tuesday after journalists orchestrated a sting operation that smuggled bottles of liquids onto planes bound for London and Washington.

Security at Schiphol has been under scrutiny since Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, a Nigerian student, flew from the airport to Detroit on Christmas Day with explosives in his underwear. Abdulmutallab allegedly tried to detonate the explosives over the United States before being grabbed by passengers and crew.

In an undercover operation broadcast on television Sunday night, reporters refilled bottles bought at a duty free store, resealed them and smuggled them back into the store. They then went through the check-out counter again with the same bottles, where they were put into sealed plastic bags that were not checked by security staff.

The Netherlands National Anti-terror Coordinator says extra security staff will immediately begin patrolling duty-free stores at the airport and there will be more stringent checks on bottles bought there. Some stores will stop selling liquids altogether.

The stunt was possible because handbag security at Schiphol is conducted at boarding gates rather than before entering the departure lounge where the duty-free shops are located.

Schiphol spokeswoman Mirjam Snoerwang said Schiphol is the only major European airport that has security checks at the boarding gate for intercontinental flights and trips to Britain, Ireland and countries that are not part of the so-called Schengen borderless zone of 25 EU countries as well as Iceland, Norway and Switzerland.

Snoerwang said the airport knew about the possible weak link in its security before it was exposed on national television.

"We considered it -- together with our minister of justice -- an acceptable level of risk," she said. But after the television show "automatically the risk is not acceptable any more so that is why we have taken some extra measures."

The reporter who led the sting, Alberto Stegeman, said he was surprised that Schiphol knew about the risk and had not acted earlier.

"If I can think of this, then so can anybody," he said in a telephone interview. "It is easy to think up and easier to carry out."
Posted by:Steve White

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