Buenos Aires, January 06: New US rules tightening security checks for airline travelers from or via 14 countries, including Syria, miss the root of the problem, a top Syrian official told Argentina’s Telam news agency Tuesday.
“It’s like giving aspirin to a seriously ill patient,” Syria’s Information Minister Mohsen Bilal told the news agency in an interview.
“You can’t resolve this with wars, scanners or blacklists,” Bilal said of the measures that went into effect Monday, prompted by a foiled attempt to blow up a Detroit-bound airliner on December 25.
The measures include random checks on all passengers flying into US airports, as well as compulsory, stricter checks on those coming from or via 14 nations.
The countries include Cuba, Iran, Sudan and Syria. They also apply to passengers traveling from or through Afghanistan, Libya, Pakistan, Somalia, Yemen, Nigeria and four other nations.
“These measures are not a true remedy for this international criminal phenomenon that threatens us all, regardless of religion, race or nationality and is condemned across the planet, by Syria, Argentina and the whole world,” Bilal told Telam.
The Syrian official proposed an international conference to deal with terrorism.
“Just like we met in Copenhagen (December 7-18) to study the climate problem, I think a new Copenhagen (summit) is needed to study this phenomenon (terrorism),” he said.
“It would help a great deal to detect the roots of the problem and fight it,” he added.
—Agencies