Travel documents are for terrorists just as important as weapons, according to the key finding from the 9/11 Commission Report. This is the reason border control systems based on biometric applications have become the solution of choice in identifying potential threats.

Rhodes is becoming increasingly popular with cruise holidaymakers, with local authorities expecting a record growth in numbers of cruise passengers for 2011.

British counter terrorism detectives are liaising with authorities in the United States amid reports of suspicious packages on cargo flights. Officials are investigating reports of several packages on aircraft in the US cities of Philadelphia and Newark, New Jersey. In the UK, parts of East Midlands Airport were closed earlier on Friday following the discovery of a suspicious package.

Both the US and UK have issued warnings to their citizens of a potential Al Qaeda terrorist threat in Europe, leaving tourism chiefs across the continent concerned this could prompt a travel slump. Though neither are formal warnings, some experts said they could still hurt a fragile European economy already struggling to recover from the financial crisis.

At least 36 people were killed when insurgents set off a series of car bombs outside some of Baghdad’s best known international hotels, including the Ishtar Sheraton.

Heathrow is to become the first of BAA’s six UK airports to install full body scanner. The airport operator said the scanners would be in place “as soon as practically possible”.