US looks to UN for new airline security standards

(WASHINGTON) - The United States is looking to a low-profile UN agency to help set tough new global airline security standards, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and officials said Tuesday.

Chastened by a Christmas Day plot to blow up a trans-Atlantic passenger jet, Napolitano said the US was looking to the International Civil Aviation Organization to rally countries toward new minimum security requirements.

Following a meeting with European Union and airline industry representatives last week, Napolitano said there was now "a clear sense of urgency to take immediate action to strengthen security measures."

Napolitano said the ICAO had backed a series of regional meetings to discuss new rules, but did not go further.

US officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the ICAO could provide new global rules, with one source expressing hope that legislation could start to take shape by the middle of the year.

Napolitano did not go into detail about the measures, but has previously called for enhanced random screening, more federal air marshals on flights destined for the United States and an expanded terrorist watchlist.

The secretary, who struck a tough new tone Tuesday after being lambasted for public comments in the wake of the Christmas Day attack, said there was now a "renewed" commitment from partners to overhaul security measures."

The European Union and United States have long sparred over airline security, with Brussels and other European capitals expressing concern that passenger screening may endanger privacy and that trade could be hit by overly onerous legislation.

During a meeting last week in Spain, Napolitano tried to convince EU officials to approve the installation of body scanners at the bloc's main airports, for use by US-bound passengers.

Napolitano said the machines would now be seen at airports in London, Amsterdam, Frankfurt and Paris.

The US is also pressing for quicker transfer of passenger information as it tries to address some of the intelligence failings of the Christmas Day attack, when a young Nigerian -- smuggled high explosives onto the plane bound from Amsterdam to Detroit.

It has since emerged that the man's father had warned the US embassy in Abuja about his son's contact with radical Islam.

The disclosure led 23-year-old Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab to appear on what is known as a "P3B" list of possible terrorists -- a designation that was not enough to place him on a no-fly list.

It also emerged that Abdulmutallab had been denied a visa to visit Britain, but that information was not used by airline authorities either.

Napolitano said that would change over the coming year as the Department of Homeland Security also looks to deploy new technology and more law enforcement and canine resources to boost airline security.