BRUSSELS - EU interior ministers met Monday to consider a plan to tighten air cargo security that would include blacklisting high-risk airports that are deemed to have inadequate security measures.
German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere says his five-point plan also calls for "special controls" on suspect parcels "like technical material from Yemen destined for a Jewish organization in Europe or the United States."
The ministers are expected to set up a panel Monday to review the proposed measures.
Last month, authorities intercepted two package bombs in Britain and Dubai that had been sent from Yemen. The addresses on the packages were outdated locations for two Chicago synagogues. The terror group al-Qaida in the Arabian peninsula has claimed responsibility.
Those bombs contained 300 and 400 grams of the powerful industrial explosive PETN.
The failed attempts were followed last week, by a spate of small bombs mailed in Greece to embassies and foreign leaders.
Several countries, including the U.S., Germany, Britain and France, have temporarily banned all air freight from Yemen.
If de Maiziere's proposal is approved, it would be the first time the 27-nation European has adopted a blacklist of foreign airports.
The EU has had a list of unsafe airlines since 2006. It currently includes 278 banned airlines from 17 countries -- mostly small carriers from Africa and Asia -- and is regularly updated.
