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THE HAGUE: The United States has called on airlines worldwide to step up security after an attempt to blow up a US airliner on a flight between Amsterdam and Detroit, Dutch authorities said on Saturday.
"The US authorities have asked airline companies to take extra security measures," according to a statement issued by the services of the national coordinator against terrorism (NCTB) in The Hague.
"The extra measures will apply throughout the world on all flights to the United States for an unlimited duration," it said.
"It will involve, for example, frisking passengers and extra checks on hand baggage," NCTB spokeswoman Judith Sluiter told AFP.
The extra measures came into force on Saturday morning in the Netherlands, which received a formal request from the US authorities during the night, she said.
According to officials at Amsterdam-Schiphol airport, the measures should not affect air traffic.
A Nigerian who claimed to have links with Al-Qaeda tried to detonate an explosive device on board a plane as started its descent to Detroit on Friday before being overpowered by fellow passengers and crew.
He was arrested after the Airbus A 330 operated by Northwest Airlines landed.
The would-be bomber, who suffered serious burns, had boarded the plane at Schiphol from a connecting flight.
- AFP/sc
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