Intelligence expert named to head US airport security

WASHINGTON, March 8, 2010 (AFP) - President Barack Obama on Monday named a former senior army intelligence expert to head the agency charged with manning security screening checkpoints at US airports.

Retired major general Robert Harding was chosen to replace Obama's previous nominee to head the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), Erroll Southers, who withdrew amid a political firestorm in January.


"I am confident that Bob's talent and expertise will make him a tremendous asset in our ongoing efforts to bolster security and screening measures at our airports," Obama said in a statement.

"I can think of no one more qualified than Bob to take on this important job, and I look forward to working with him in the months and years ahead."

Harding spent 35 years working in intelligence, in the private and military sectors, including four years as director of operations at the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA).

Southers withdrew from consideration for the post, which requires Senate confirmation, after a Republican Senator put a hold on his nomination, saying he may try to offer union rights to Department of Homeland Security employees.

The United States launched a sweeping review of airline security measures following an attempted attack by a Nigerian man wearing underpants rigged with explosives on Christmas Day on a passenger jet bound for Detroit.

The Obama administration has pledged to speed up the installation of full body scanners at US airports and to increase funding for federal air marshals on flights deemed most at risk.


by Hasbanullah Khan
(c) 2010 AFP