Beirut, January 09: Lebanon’s Information Minister Tarek Mitri has voiced concern over the US government’s decision to adopt stringent security screening measures for Lebanese passengers.
The Lebanese official made the remark following his meeting with a delegation from Hamas in Beirut on Friday.
The decision will increase racist feelings against some countries’ nationals, Mitri said.
The security measures come after US justice officials charged a young Nigerian man with attempting to blow up a Detroit-bound airliner on Christmas Day with 289 people onboard.
The 23-year-old Abdul Farouk Abdulmutallab was overpowered by passengers and arrested by US security agents upon landing on Friday.
According to senior officials quoted by the US media, Abdulmutallab confessed once in custody that he had mixed a syringe full of chemicals with powder taped to his leg to try to blow up the Airbus A330 from Amsterdam.
White House officials and US lawmakers called the incident a terror attack and President Barack Obama ordered security measures to be stepped up at airports.
US media reports have linked the young Nigerian man to the al-Qaeda network in Yemen.
The development comes as the US is preparing the grounds for a new war in the Middle East under the pretext of an alleged threat by al-Qaeda militants in Yemen.
——-Agencies