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quote:
Security Fears Ground Paris-L.A. Flights
By JOCELYN GECKER
PARIS (AP) - Six airline flights between Paris and Los Angeles were canceled at the U.S. Embassy's urging because of terrorism fears, the French government and Air France said Wednesday.
The flights scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday were called off because of information obtained ``in the framework of the French-American fight against terrorism,'' the French prime minister's office said.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security had been meeting with French officials in recent days over concerns about a possible terrorist attack.
One U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the U.S. government had been trying to keep the negotiations with France confidential, ``hoping that we would be able to lure some of these people in.''
The official said there was some frustration within the Department of Homeland Security that the flights were canceled, thus allowing the word to get out about the security concerns.
Three of the flights were scheduled to depart Wednesday - two from Paris and one from Los Angeles. Air France gave the flight numbers as 68, 69 and 70.
The three other flights were scheduled to leave on Christmas Day - two from Los Angeles and one from Paris. Air France listed those flight numbers as 68, 69 and 71.
The airline said it was working to arrange accommodations for stranded passengers.
``These flights have been canceled for security reasons. It comes out of a disposition given by American authorities in France,'' said Anna Laban, deputy press attache at the French consulate in Los Angeles.
The cancellations came almost exactly two years after the arrest of so-called ``shoe bomber'' Richard Reid.
Reid, a British convert to Islam, was arrested on Dec. 22, 2001, when he tried but failed to detonate explosives in his shoes on American Airlines flight No. 63 from Paris to Miami. He was sentenced to life in prison.
In recent days, Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge had personally been involved in security briefings with French officials, as well as officials from other nations, Transportation Security Administration spokesman Brian Doyle said.
He would not name other countries that had been contacted.
``We're talking to our counterparts in other countries about security concerns,'' Doyle said.
Security at Los Angeles International Airport had already been tightened to its highest level in two years.
With 2.6 million travelers expected to use the airport between Dec. 19 and Jan. 4, airport officials on Wednesday searched cars bound for terminals and prohibited curbside dropoffs and pickups.
Los Angeles Mayor James Hahn announced the new restrictions late Tuesday, calling them ``a precautionary measure during a period of heightened readiness.''
Los Angeles operates one of the busiest airports in the world. It has twice been targeted for attacks in recent years - a foiled bomb plot planned for around New Year's Day 2000, and a shooting at a check-in counter that left three dead on July 4 last year.
The airport was shut down for two days after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, and private vehicles were kept out of the central road area for two months.
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25-12-2003 09:29
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