U.S. halts Yemen package shipments

U.S. halts Yemen package shipments    The U.S. Transportation Security Administration on Monday said it has embargoed packages originating from Yemen from entering the country by air and has deployed a team of inspectors to help the Yemeni government with cargo screening procedures.
   The moves follow last Thursday's discovery of packages originating from Yemen that contained an explosive compound concealed in a desktop printer component. The packages were transported out of Yemen by commercial passenger aircraft and then transferred to FedEx and UPS in Dubai. Authorities intercepted one package at a FedEx facility in Dubai and the other at a UPS facility at East Midlands Airport in the United Kingdom.
   Law enforcement officials are checking shipping records during the past few weeks to identify any other potential packages from Yemen that may have been shipped through the global air cargo network.
   The TSA emphasized that all high-risk cargo on inbound passenger planes is being screened as part of the effort to meet the 100 percent screening mandate that went into effect Aug. 1. The rule is being enforced for domestic and U.S.-outbound flights, but the agency has set lower initial targets for international inbound flights due to logistical challenges and sovereignty issues in other countries that have different cargo security standards. All-cargo carriers have their    own set of requirements for securing facilities, vetting personnel and checking shipments.
   U.S. officials intercepted shipments from Yemen to Chicago in mid-September that they now consider were part of a dry run to test the system, according to ABC News. The cartons included household goods, books and a computer disk, but no explosives. The boxes were intercepted in transit following an intelligence tip, searched and then allowed to proceed to Chicago.
   Al Qaeda operatives wanted to follow the packages through the couriers' tracking system, see how long a timer had to be set 'so that the bomb would go off at the right point, which presumably was over Chicago,' said Richard Clarke, a former National Security Council counterterrorism official, in the ABC investigative piece.
   Officials said they worried about a larger plot, but didn't know the real attack was coming until they got a tip from Saudi Arabian intelligence last week. The Saudis were able to provide the FedEx and UPS tracking numbers of the bomb packages.