Call for tighter border controls in face of latest terrorist threat
Posted, January 19, 2010 @ 00:00
Another country has moved up the international security agenda following the arrest of Detroit-bound suspected suicide bomber, Abdulmutallab, and revelations that he may have been trained in Yemen. New EU "Foreign Minister" Baroness Ashton had her baptism in the debate on Yemen and Iran in the European parliament yesterday.
Conservative Defence Spokesman, Geoffrey Van Orden called for other countries to pull their weight in assisting the Yemen and for urgent attention to be paid to tightening our border controls.
Mr Van Orden reminded Baroness Ashton that, topically, British marines had first landed in what is now Yemen in 1839, to combat piracy in the Gulf of Aden. In more recent times, Yemen has been spawning terrorism since the 1960s and the first Al Qaeda attributed attack took place in 1992. He commented:
"Yemen has been a source of danger for many years. The UK is giving over £100 million in aid over the next 4 years, which just about equates to the rest of the EU put together. Yet again, others need to share the burden.
"The failed Detroit-bound bomb is another wake-up call to the governments and security services of Europe. We cannot hope to snuff out terrorism wherever it breeds, but we can improve the security of our own countries with more effective controls on our borders. I doubt the EU is properly motivated on this. We need to put our own systems in order."