Beijing: China today banned passengers from carrying liquids on domestic flights as it announced new stringent security measures ahead of the Olympics here, following the uncovering of a suspected terror plot last week. "Passengers flying domestically are forbidden to carry liquids. Staff members of airports will open more bags and cases for security check," the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China (CAAC) said.

It said existing easy-boarding VIP services in which passengers can pay for priority boarding would be cancelled. "All the vehicles allowed to get into the controlled zones of the airports must go through stringent security check," the CAAC said, adding the move was to ensure passenger security.

China said on Sunday it had foiled a plot to crash the Beijing-bound China Southern Airlines passenger plane after it took off from the restive Muslim-majority northwestern Xinjiang Uygur region and another planned attack targeting the Beijing Olympics to be held in August with the killing of two terrorists in the same region in January.

Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi had said early this week that the crew found some passengers carrying "suspicious liquid" on boardand the plane landed at Lanzhou, the capital of Gansu province, for the safety of passengers. The CAAC said it would soon issue a notice on the details of the ban on carrying liquids on board, the Xinhua news agency reported.

China has identified terrorism as the "biggest threat" to the Olympics and been carrying out regular drills as part of stepped up security.

Source : PTI