WASHINGTON, Aug. 10 (UPI) -- The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is increasing the number of air marshals on flights originating in Britain bound for the United States.
The agency's director, Michael Chertoff, made the announcement Thursday after British police announced they had arrested 21 people in London and Birmingham on suspicion of planning to use suicide bombs on as many as 10 U.S. aircraft using liquid explosives brought aboard in carry-on baggage.
"Prudence suggests that we treat (the trans-Atlantic route) as being at the highest level of threat," Chertoff said.
Accordingly, the threat level of Britain-U.S. flights was upgraded to the maximum "red" status and all other U.S. air routes were upgraded to "orange."
The United States has more than 1,000 armed, undercover air marshals, a Homeland Security spokeswoman told the BBC, but she refused to say how many were being shifted to the Britain-U.S. route.
