 President Obama ordered two reviews after the alleged bomb attempt |
US President Barack Obama is set to announce tightened airline security, after his officials update him on reviews prompted by a plane bomb plot.
Reviews of airport screening and of the US watch-list system were ordered after a Nigerian man known to US officials allegedly got on a plane with a device.
He tried to blow up the plane on 25 December as it prepared to land in the US city of Detroit, investigators say.
It has prompted changes to airport screening around the world.
Fourteen countries, including Nigeria, Somalia and Yemen, have been singled out by Washington for enhanced security measures for travellers.
On Tuesday at the White House, President Obama is expected to outline steps to improve watch-lists and deter future attacks, after his meeting with about 20 security and intelligence officials.
Prosecution investigation
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Defence Secretary Robert Gates, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, CIA Director Leon Panetta and FBI Director Robert Mueller are among those expected at the meeting, the Associated Press news agency reported.
Mr Obama will be updated on the investigation focusing on Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the 23-year-old Nigerian who remains in custody, charged with attempting to destroy a plane.
Mr Abdulmutallab began his journey in Lagos, Nigeria, and changed planes at Schiphol airport in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
His name was in a US database of about 550,000 suspected terrorists, but was not on a list that would have subjected him to additional security screening or kept him from boarding the flight.
Since the incident, officials have moved dozens of names on to "watch-" and "no-fly" lists, as they seek to overhaul security, White House spokesman Bill Burton said earlier.
Watch-list update
Those on the watch-list are subject to extra security checks, while those on the no-fly list are not allowed to board flights to the US.
Yemen-based al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula said last week it had trained and equipped Mr Abdulmutallab for the plane plot.
The US re-opened its embassy in Yemen on Tuesday, following what it called successful counter-terrorism operations by government security forces on Monday north of the capital.
A BBC correspondent in the Yemeni capital Sanaa says the embassy was referring to a strike that reportedly killed two al-Qaeda operatives.
The embassy had closed on Sunday in response to what it said were al-Qaeda threats. The British and French embassies have resumed operations, but remain closed to the public.
Yemeni authorities have tightened security measures at Sanaa's airport, as well as around several other embassies.
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