USA lifts ban on air cargo from Yemen

The United States has lifted its ban on air freight from Yemen entering the US, Transport Minister Waed Bathaib said Tuesday. The Transport Ministry's Undersecretary was notified of the US decision to lift the ban on the US-bound air cargo shipments originating in Yemen by the USA Acting Secretary of Homeland Security during their meeting on the sidelines of the 38th session of the General Assembly of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) held in Montreal, Canada, Bathaib said. The Minister said that the move was prompted by the findings of a US technical team visited Yemen recently to observe the security and safety measures followed at the Sana'a International Airport to ensure their conformity with international standards. The Transport Ministry's Undersecretary demanded the USA Acting Secretary of Homeland Security to circulate the US decision to the European Union's States and Canada to follow suit. A global security alert was sparked late in 2011by the discovery of explosives in two parcels posted from Yemen. The two potentially lethal parcels were addressed to synagogues in Chicago and contained the explosive PETN hidden in ink toner cartridges. They were uncovered in Dubai and Britain on October 28, 2011.