SECURITY | 28.12.2009

Key German politicians express caution about new airport security measures

Passengers go through a number of checks already

In the wake of the recent transatlantic airplane bombing attempt, members of parliament both in and out of government are warning that Germany shouldn’t panic and impose new security measures.

Wolfgang Bosbach, the chairman of the parliamentary Internal Affairs Committee told the Berliner Zeitung daily on Monday that the recent attempt to blow up a Northwest/KLM flight from Amsterdam to Detroit should not result in the introduction of new security procedures at German airports.

“The attempted attack is not a reason for us to change the security laws,” said Bosbach.

He said that in recent years many loopholes in security had been closed, but that legislation could not eliminate human error.

Bosbach said, however, that European Union plans to relax certain restrictions, such as on bringing liquids onto aircraft, should probably be put on hold.

Speaking to the Hamburger Abendblatt newspaper, he said “the searches we have now are not a result of security hysteria, rather a necessary step.”

Other voices

A key opposition figure, the Green Party's Hans-Christian Stroebele, echoed Bosbach's assessment. He said that last week's attempted attack was made possible by a failure to correctly assess existing intelligence, not a lack of security.

The failed bomber, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, was on a US watch list of people with extremist ties, and his father, a prominent Nigerian banker, had contacted US authorities to say that his son may have travelled to Yemen to meet with Islamists.

The police presence at German airports has more visible

The head of a German police union, Rainer Wendt, also said it would be a mistake to adopt new, more intrusive search methods like the much-debated full-body or “nude” scanner.

That device would allow security personnel to observe a computer-generated reproduction of the contours of a passenger's body, where well-hidden weapons or explosives might be visible.

That would go “too far” in invading people's privacy, he told the Berliner Zeitung, and called instead for a heightened police presence at German airports.

At the same time, Wendt called for an increased in staffing for security checks at German airports. The passenger checks are the "most important part of ensuring flight security," he said, "and therefore they need to have "optimal" resources. "We musn't be taken in by the illusion that security doesn't cost money."

Since the attempted bombing of the transatlantic flight, security has been stepped up at German airports, using the means already at the authorities' disposal. Over the weekend Germany's Federal Police warned passengers that they could expect longer waits to get through airport security. from DW

mrh/dpa/APD
Editor: Chuck Penfold