This is apropos a Business Recorder news item "US bans large electronics from 10 airports" carried by the newspaper yesterday. The Trump administration confirmed it is imposing new restrictions on electronic devices carried by travellers coming to the United States from 10 airports mainly in the Middle East and North Africa in response to unspecified terror threats.
The Department of Homeland Security will require passengers coming to the United States from airports in Jordan, Egypt, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Morocco and Qatar to check electronic devices larger than a cell phone such as tablets, portable DVD players, laptops and cameras.
But US officials' clarification that the decision had nothing to do with President Donald Trump's efforts to impose a travel ban of six majority-Muslim nations makes little or no sense in view of Trump's pre- and post-election approach to the Islamic world.
What does the US Department of Homeland Security need to say in response to the fact that the airports affected by its action are in Amman, Cairo, Kuwait City, Doha, Dubai, Istanbul, Abu Dhabi, Casablanca, Jeddah and Riyadh? It is however interesting to note that Baghdad and Tehran are not part of the Department of Homeland Security list.