Word: airport
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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Berri had promised that he would try to arrange for reporters to meet with the hostages, and on Thursday he staged the press conference at the airport featuring five of the 40 captive Americans. The five were Allyn Conwell, 39, of Houston, Thomas Cullins, 42, of Burlington, Vt., Vincente Garza, 53, of Laredo, Texas, Peter Hill and Arthur Toga. The political purpose of the event was transparent: Conwell read a statement urging President Reagan not to try to rescue the hostages by military means. He also called for the release of the 776 Shi'ite detainees in Israel "who undoubtedly...
Late in the week the airport was the scene of a mass rally by hundreds of fist-shaking Shi'ite marchers organized by Hizballah. In presumably conscious imitation of the Shi'ite demonstrations outside the U.S. embassy in Tehran in 1979 and 1980, the militants trampled and burned an American flag and chanted, "Death to Israel and America, the Great Satan." Though their hatred of the U.S. was genuine enough, one purpose of their demonstration in the early summer heat was to steal a little thunder from Amal, with whom they are in conflict for the leadership of Lebanon...
...intractable demands of hijackers, President Reagan began his press conference last week by taking a stern stance on a more tangible issue: the safety of future U.S. air travelers. He called for putting plainclothes guards on U.S. planes flying abroad and advised Americans not to travel through Athens International Airport. Within 24 hours the Senate appropriated $2 million to more than triple the number of marshals (even though many experts question their value) and Pan Am suspended flights to Athens. The measures, though tangential to the current crisis, reflected the rising concern with airport security in an age of global...
...subsequently arrested in Athens, told officials that the weapons had been wrapped in fiber glass to avoid detection. Security experts, who say that fiber glass cannot foil X-ray machines, believe it is more likely that the arms had been planted on the plane by an accomplice, perhaps an airport worker...
Either way, security, or the lack of it, at the Athens airport has long been a concern. "There is no question that it has the weakest security of any major West European airport," says David Kyd of the International Air Transport Association. As a result, since 1982 several airlines, including TWA, have had their own supplemental screening systems. Four times during the past five years IATA officials have visited Athens to plead with the government to improve the situation. Greek officials claim they are scapegoats for U.S. frustration. Protests Transportation Minister Evangelos Kouloumbis: "The security is just as good...