Cairo airport allows gun-toting Briton to catch connecting flight

By wmw_admin on September 9, 2012

Press TV – September 9, 2012

Officials at Cairo International Airport have surprisingly allowed a British man carrying four bags full of weapons to get on an airliner bound for the Yemeni capital Sana’a.

Metal detectors and X-ray scanners at the airport showed that the Briton had a large quantity of armaments, ranging from sniper rifles to ammunition, in his luggage, the Aden Press news website reported.

Although the security forces were immediately notified about the contents of the bags, the foreign national was simply allowed to pass through the departure lounge and get on an Egypt Air passenger plane.

When asked why the British man was allowed to leave Cairo International Airport even though Egyptian security forces knew he had firearms in his baggage, airport officials said the Briton was allowed to pass since he was only going through the transit hall after arriving on a flight from Copenhagen.

Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has taken advantage of the weakness of the Yemeni central government during about a year and eight months of anti-government demonstrations to expand their presence in the impoverished country.

Al-Qaeda loyalists have carried out a spate of deadly attacks against Yemeni security forces since Ali Abdullah Saleh’s successor, President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi, came to power in February 2012.

In May, the Yemeni military launched an all-out offensive and retook a string of towns in the southern province of Abyan where al-Qaeda loyalists had established themselves.

MP/HGL