US pressures Pak for more data on fliers

The Obama administration is increasing pressure on Pakistan to provide the US with much broader airline passenger information...

The Obama administration is increasing pressure on Pakistan to provide the US with much broader airline passenger information,a crucial tool that American investigators use to track terrorist travel patterns,but a step that Pakistan has resisted,according to US officials.

Pakistan,like other countries,currently provides the names of airline passengers traveling to the US. But the administration is pressing for information on Pakistanis who fly to other countries,to feed into databases that can detect patterns used by terrorists,their financiers,logisticians and others who support them,the officials said.

Pakistan has for several years rebuffed this politically unpopular request as an invasion of its citizens privacy. But the issue is now on a short list of sticking points between the two countries including some classified counterterrorism programmes,a long-running dispute over granting visas to American government workers and contractors in Pakistan,and enhanced intelligence sharing that have intensified since the failed Times Square on May 1,two senior administration officials said.

The US currently has a range of confidential agreements with countries governing how much information each will share about its citizens traveling on commercial airliners. Many share only information about passengers traveling to the US,while others have agreed to share more information about other countries that their residents visit.

In the case of Pakistan,American officials are seeking details like the recent travel histories of airline passengers and how they paid for their tickets.

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