Following U.S., U.K. issues laptop, tablet flight ban for six countries

Araweelo News Network

Washington(ANN)-US ban covers electronics on flights from 10 Middle East airports in eight countriesPassengers flying directly to Britain from Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia and Turkey will be banned from taking laptops and tablet computers into the plane cabin, the government announced Tuesday.”Our top priority will always be to maintain the safety of British nationals,” a spokesman said after the US imposed a similar ban, warning that extremists plan to target planes with bombs in electronic devices.Earlier in the day the United States warned that extremists plan to target passenger jets with bombs hidden in electronic devices, and banned carrying them onto flights from 10 Middle East airports.Senior US officials told reporters that nine airlines from eight countries had been given 96 hours, beginning at 3:00 am (0700 GMT), to ban devices bigger than a cellphone or smartphone from the cabins.Revelations that the US was poised to announce such a ban emerged Monday evening, after a tweet from Saudi Airlines and one — subsequently deleted — by Royal Jordanian airlines informed their customers of an imminent cabin ban on electronic devices larger than a cellphone.

Royal Jordanian said all such devices — including laptops, tablets, cameras, DVD players and electronic games — would need to be checked in under new US government rules coming into force March 21.The tweet was later removed amid suggestions the airline had released the information prematurely.CNN quoted a US official as saying Monday that the ban was believed to be related to a threat posed by Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, or AQAP.According to the Financial Times, which cited a US official, the new rules will concern eight Middle Eastern nations, including Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.The move would mark the latest attempt by President Donald Trump’s administration to tighten security at US borders, after its bid to curb travel from a group of Muslim majority nations was twice blocked by the courts.Later Tuesday, Turkey said that it would ask the US not to go ahead with the electronics ban, saying the decision was not right.”We particularly emphasize how this will not benefit the passenger and that reverse steps or a softening should be adopted,” Transport Minister Ahmet Arslan told reporters.