Monitoring suspected passengers

EgyptAir is denying reports that it refuses to cooperate with US authorities in the early screening of airline passengers. But, as Amira Ibrahim reports, the national carrier also says that the final decision on the matter rests with the government
Along with other major carriers, EgyptAir has encountered various types of problems following the 11 September attacks against New York and Washington. Contradicting a report in the New York Times, the national carrier is saying it may join the US Advance Passenger Information System (APIS) programme.
The Times said last Friday that EgyptAir, Saudi Arabia's national airline, and other carriers have refused to provide American authorities with advance lists of passengers travelling to the US. The purpose of these lists is to monitor the movement of suspected terrorists and other criminals.
The newspaper quoted Nabil Fahmi, the Egyptian ambassador to Washington, as praising the APIS programme and criticising EgyptAir for allegedly refusing to cooperate. "The APIS, I believe, is a good procedural step. I cannot see why EgyptAir refuses to cooperate with the US authorities in this concern," Fahmi was quoted as having said.
Fahmi's statement took the national carrier by surprise. And it denied the Times' report.
"The report is a flat out lie," said a senior EgyptAir official, who spoke to Al-Ahram Weekly on condition of anonymity. "EgyptAir has been targeted by the American media for some time now," the official added, in an apparent allusion to the media coverage of the crash of an Egyptian airliner in October 1999 off of the US's Atlantic coast.
"The APIS is an optional programme that has been used mainly to facilitate customs and immigration procedures. Due to the terrorist attacks on the US, it decided to start screening passengers earlier. Fine, we do not mind cooperating, but that is a decision for the government," explained the source.
He added that ambassador Fahmi said that he was misquoted. "We contacted Fahmi and he said that he was asked why EgyptAir had not joined the APIS programme. His answer was 'I do not know. I would ask EgyptAir and then give a reply.'"
According to EgyptAir officials, the national carrier is examining the possibility of joining the APIS programme. "It would be beneficial at present to help our passengers avoid the troublesome welcome at US airports," an official said. But he pointed out that APIS was not established because of the 11 September terrorist attacks, but has existed for more than three years.
For some time, US Customs, the Immigration and Naturalisation Service (INS), and the Animal Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) have been working with the airline industry to develop a written set of standards for the Advance Passenger Information System (APIS). This has resulted in the APIS Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), which became effective 1 April 1998. The APIS MOU is a formal agreement between the federal inspection service agencies (customs, INS, and APHIS) and participating air carriers that governs the administration of the APIS programme. The MOU outlines mutual goals for improving passenger processing, first through accurate advance airline data, and second through tests of process improvements by the US government.
According to the MOU, airlines that join the programme must meet the performance standards, then customs can process their passengers faster. Under the programme, airlines are required to provide US security authorities with passengers' basic information: names, date of birth, nationality and passport number. The information is investigated by a number of agencies, including customs, immigration and FBI.
The primary benefit the programme offers air carriers is a decrease in processing time for passengers. To date, 94 air carriers have joined. Now that US authorities are working to tighten aviation security, the new customs inspector, Robert Boner, demanded that us of US airports by international carriers be conditional on their joining the programme.
"Through the programme, we monitor between 70 to 80 per cent of incoming passengers. We think this rate should be increased to 100 per cent," Boner told the Times.
An unidentified Saudi official was quoted by the newspaper as saying that Saudi authorities are in no rush to join the APIS programme. He referred to the large number of Saudi passengers arrested following the 11 September attacks simply because their names were "suspicious" and added that the number would have quadrupled had passenger lists been provided in advance.
Egyptian authorities are similarly worried about the potential for misuse of the passenger information. They are also likely to demand equal treatment for passengers flying to Egypt from the US.
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