美国国家公共电台 NPR U.S., Britain Restrict Electronics On Flights From Mideast Countries

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

The U.S. is tightening 1 rules about electronic devices allowed in carry-on baggage. The new security measures cover direct flights to the U.S. from eight majority-Muslim countries. This, of course, comes as President Trump 2 is waging an ongoing 3 legal battle over his travel ban for six other majority-Muslim countries. Here to explain all this is NPR national security correspondent Greg Myre. Good morning, Greg.

GREG MYRE, BYLINE 4: Hi, Rachel.

MARTIN: So these are separate countries from the countries that were included in the travel ban?

MYRE: Absolutely. And what's very interesting here are these are traditional U.S. allies, and these are the stable countries in the region. We're talking about four wealthy Gulf 5 states - Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait and United Arab Emirates - and four other U.S. allies - Turkey, Jordan, Egypt and Morocco.

It's almost the opposite demographic of the travel ban. These are sort of wealthier, more prosperous countries as opposed to sort of the troubled countries that have fraught 6 relations with the U.S., like Syria, for example.

MARTIN: So before we get to the intention behind these new restrictions 7, can you just lay out exactly what are the new rules?

MYRE: Right. So the travelers will still be allowed to take their smartphones on their planes, but anything larger than that - a laptop, a tablet, a camera - that will have to be placed in checked baggage. So it doesn't affect the travelers themselves, just the devices that they can bring into the cabin of the plane.

MARTIN: We should say these are long flights. And people use those devices to entertain themselves for 10, 12 hours sometimes.

MYRE: Exactly. And again, these are - these tend to be a lot of business flights. So you look at a plane like this, and it would be - tend to be full of businessmen or businesswomen with their heads buried in a laptop for the length of this flight. Now they're going to be restricted to a smartphone.

MARTIN: So Department of Homeland Security has - is behind these new rules. Do we know anything about what the intention is behind this? I mean, clearly it's about security, but anything more specific?

MYRE: Not really. They didn't say if this was based on new intelligence or existing information. Now, it's a known threat that perhaps an explosive device could be put in an electronic device. And one could certainly think that that is the starting point for this.

MARTIN: Well, we don't have any - there's no new threat specific to that.

MYRE: They did not mention any new threat. So we're not - none that we're aware of.

MARTIN: How are these countries responding? I mean, I know Royal Jordanian Airlines tweeted out, just as a courtesy to their customers, that this was happening. But have we heard any response from the governments of these countries yet?

MYRE: That's about all we've heard so far is announcing it. And they're going - basically going into effect immediately. They have four days. But some, like Royal Jordanian, have already announced them. But it's certainly going to be a hassle for the airlines and their customers. And again, these are countries with very good relationships. They have not - places that generally have not been targets for terror attacks.

I mean, the one concern that the U.S. has brought up many times is al-Qaida in Yemen as a potential threat with very skilled bomb-makers, in particular a guy named Ibrahim al-Asiri. And Yemen is not on this list, but it's near those Gulf states that have been placed on the list.

MARTIN: So two quick clarifications. This does not apply to U.S. flights leaving America to fly to these countries, correct?

MYRE: That's correct.

MARTIN: And then secondly 8, do we know how long this - these new rules are supposed to be in place?

MYRE: It's open-ended. They say it will be reviewed regularly, but it's going to be a standing 9 order.

MARTIN: Buy some new paperback 10 books, long ones, for those flights. NPR national security correspondent Greg Myre. Thanks, Greg.

MYRE: Thanks, Rachel.