An official UAE statement said on Saturday that passengers arriving or departing from Dubai International Airport would not be subjected to screening for anthrax infections, which have struck a number of US citizens.
Brigadier Ismail Al Gargawi, director of the general department of airport and ports of the Dubai Police was quoted by the Khaleej Times as saying that there were no plans to conduct physical searches of cabin baggage of travelers to check for any powders they might be carrying. This would be a difficult and time-consuming process, he said, noting that such a job would have to be conducted by the UAE Ministry of Health and the Customs Department.
The Dubai Airport security chief said, however, that a safety policy or screening measure for bioterrorism had to be defined in the form of a federal directive coming from the General Civil Aviation Authority, and implemented at all the six airports of the country. It was not practical for just one airport to implement a certain screening measure, if others were not following the same steps, he said.
However, current X-ray screening procedures of hand baggage as well as checked baggage at Dubai Airport are tight enough, the official said, cited by the paper. After the September 11 terrorist attacks in the US, the deployment of security personnel at Dubai Airport was increased by 33 percent.
Meanwhile, Director General of Emirates Post Abdullah Al Daboos has said that the UAE is free from anthrax and that the postal authority has taken stringent measures to prevent the bacteria from being mailed into the country.
In a press release issued Saturday, Emirates Post said all mail which entered the country from the first day the bacteria were discovered in the US was free from the disease, adding that tough preventive measures had been taken to tackle any mail suspected to be contaminated.
According to the official Emirates news agency (WAM), Daboos assured that all concerned authorities in the country were working hand in hand with the postal authority, using the most sophisticated equipment and methods to ensure that the disease did not enter the country - Albawaba.com
