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Nigeria Seeks Removal From US Airline Security List

   VOA News 05 January 2010
   Nigerian  Foreign  Minister  Ojo  Maduekwe makes brief remarks with US
   Secretary  of State Hillary Clinton (not pictured) before talks at the
   State Department in Washington,DC on March 23, 2009.

Photo: AFP

   Nigerian Foreign Minister Ojo Maduekwe (file photo)

   Nigeria  has  asked  the  United  States  to  remove it from a list of
   countries   whose   air  travelers  will  face  tighter  screening  on
   U.S.-bound flights.
   Nigerian Foreign Minister Ojo Maduekwe told reporters that he made the
   request Tuesday during a meeting with U.S. ambassador Robin Sanders in
   Nigeria's capital, Abuja.
   The  U.S. increased screening for passengers from 14 countries Sunday,
   nine  days  after  a Nigerian man tried to blow up a plane approaching
   the U.S. city of Detroit.
   Speaking  on Monday, Nigeria's information minister said her country's
   inclusion on the list was unfair.  Dora Akunylil said the move amounts
   to  discrimination  against more than 150 million Nigerians because of
   the behavior of one person.
   Nigerian officials have noted repeatedly that the suspect, Umar Farouk
   Abdulmutallab, appears to have received his terrorist training abroad.
   The  would-be  bomber  is  believed  to  have been trained by al-Qaida
   operatives in Yemen.
   The  terrorist  group  al-Qaida  in  the Arabian Peninsula has claimed
   responsibility for the attempted bombing.

   Some information for this report was provided by AP and AFP.

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