Cairo – Egyptian authorities said Sunday they were tightening security on flights bound for New York and other US cities for fear of potential reprisals after the killing of al-Qaeda leader in Yemen Anwar al-Awlaki. Egypt has also boosted cooperation with US authorities on the exchange of information over suspicious passengers, security sources at Cairo airport said Sunday.
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They disclosed that a number of passengers had been barred from flying to the US on suspicion of having links with militant groups.
An Ethiopian passenger was prevented from leaving Cairo for New York after the US authorities said he had visited Yemen several times, according to the sources. The suspected passenger was deported to Ethiopia, they added.
Al-Awlaki, a US-born radical Islamist cleric seen as a spiritual leader of al-Qaeda, was killed in Yemen on Friday in an airstrike that US President Barack Obama said was a ‘major blow’ to the terrorist network’s most active operational affiliate.